The Lost Clan
by Red Eyes Black Dragon Master
Summary: Once not to far from the village Konoha there lived a clan of very powerful ninja gaurded by the Kyuubi. Until just before the fox attacked Konoha, the entire clan was killed off except for one child. Now that child is to be confronted by his past demons.
1. The Dreams

**The Lost Clan**

**The Dreams**

The full moon shines over the forest. Tall trees, common in this part of the Land of Fire, reach up from the mountains toward the sky. Smoke rises up from the forest as flames race across the trees, destroying all in their path. Coming up from the burning trees stands an enormous creature, a beast with deep red fur, rows of sharp teeth, and nine long whipping tails. Kyuubi, the Nine-Tailed Fox.

_The beast roars and red chakra flies from its mouth, spreading the flames. A small flash of movement in the forest below catches it attention. Kyuubi leaps after it, crushing trees under its claws._

_A woman, wearing a white kimono with the symbol of her clan woven on the back, runs frantically through the forest. Her long black hair tied into a bun on the back of her head. In her arms she carried a small bundle wrapped in white blankets. She looks back only for a second, and her blue eyes stare in horror as the fox closes._

_She runs again, holding the bundle in one arm and using her other hand to focus her chakra. Her speed increases and she disappears into the trees, followed closely by Kyuubi._

_She runs out of the trees, the white bundle in her arms now missing. As she comes to the middle of the small clearing, she turns to face the Nine-Tailed Fox. The great demon slowly walks out of the woods, coming to face her. A man, a ninja stands on the fox's head._

_The woman holds out both hands and a spiraling sphere of chakra forms in her hands. "Rasengan!" She cries and jumps to attack the man on the fox's head. Just before she can hit her mark, the fox moves to attack, putting itself between her and the ninja. The woman's eyes become wide and the sphere of blue chakra dissipates. Kyuubi opens its mouth and the woman falls toward the rows of enormous teeth._

Naruto bolted out of bed, his pupils dilated and his face covered in cold sweat. He gasped for air and slowly whipped the sweat off his forehead. The silver light of the full moon shone in from his bedroom window. Naruto pulled off his sleeping cap and climbed out of bed to stand by the window. What time was it? Midnight? Maybe 1:00 am?

It was this dream again. The same one three nights in a row. And this wasn't the first time this had happened, each year at about this same time these dreams came to him. Always around October 7th. They begin just a few days before his birthday, and also just before the anniversary of the demon fox being sealed inside him.

"Why do I have these dreams?!" Naruto yelled. "I don't even recognize anyone in them. Except that damn fox." He opened the window slightly and let a cool breeze slip in.

Naruto sat back down on his bed and tried to sleep. But the disturbing thoughts of that woman trying desperately to attack the fox kept sleep from coming to him. Naruto raised one eyebrow as a thought came to him. The fox is in this dream, so why not ask it? Naruto sat up, closed his eyes, and entered the realm of the demon fox.

Naruto found himself in the dark concrete halls of his own mind. Water dripped slowly down from the ceiling. Naruto stood up and started to walk in the direction of Kyuubi's cage. The cage stood incredibly tall, made of steel with a seal placed over the opening, keeping it closed. "Hey! Damn fox! Get over here!" Naruto yelled.

The red eyes and grinning mouth full of teeth appeared. Kyuubi, the Nine-Tailed Fox. "What do you want now, little worm?" The fox asked, "here to beg for more chakra?"

"No, I'm here for answers. You live in my body so you know of the dreams I've been having."

"Do you want me to bring up that one dream you really liked about Sakura?" The fox chuckled. Its chuckling shook the room.

"NO! I'm talking about the one with you. You, the burning forest, the ninja, and the woman." Naruto growled at the fox.

"What do you want to know?" The fox asked, sounding annoyed.

"Who is the woman? How does she know the Ragesgan? What was she carrying?" Naruto asked.

"Maybe she's just someone you saw one day, and she know the technique because you do, have you thought about that?" The fox said.

"What about the ninja riding on your head? Why would you let anyone do that?" Naruto asked.

"I wouldn't!" The fox roared.

"Then why did you?" Naruto asked.

"It's your dream. I don't know anything about it. So QUIT ASKING ME!" Kyuubi roared.

Naruto shirked away and then walked back out of the room.

Kyuubi turned slowly and crept back into the darkness of his cage. It settled down and thought out loud. "I know more than I expose. I would tell you but that blasted seal of the 4th's stops me. You would be very surprised to know the truth, Uzumaki Naruto. But since I can't help you, you'll have to find the answer on your own."


	2. Chuunin Again

**Chunin Again**

The next morning Naruto walked slowly to the place where he, Sakura, and Sai where supposed to meet Kakashi. Deep groves were easily visible under Naruto's eyes and his walking resembled the movement of a zombie.

Sakura looked up and saw Naruto walking toward the bridge. "There you are, Naruto." She said.

Sai looked up from the "Improving Relationships" book he was reading. "Naruto, you're almost as late as Kakashi." He said. Naruto took no notice. He just kept walking. As he walked, his path drifted further and further to the left. Sakura and Sai continued to watch as Naruto missed the bridge completely and fell into the river.

Naruto bolted back to his feet and looked around, dazed and confused. "Huh, what, how, where?" He muttered. He saw Sakura and Sai standing on the bridge and remembered what he was doing before. "Oh, yeah." He jumped from the water and on the bridge, soaking wet.

"What's with you today, Naruto?" Sakura asked. "You're more in a daze then usual."

"If I wasn't so tired I'd be mad at you for that." Naruto said. "I haven't been able to sleep."

"Maybe I should call you 'living dead' instead of 'manhoodless'." Sai laughed.

Naruto wasn't too tired to be angry at that. In the blink of an eye, Naruto pulled five shuriken from the holster on his right leg and threw them powerfully at Sai. The shuriken wirled through the air and struck Sai all over his body. As Sai fell to the ground his body turned black and dissolved into a pool of black liquid.

"An Ink Clone Jutsu." Naruto said.

"How observant." The real Sai climbed up from under the bridge and with a kunai, stabbed Naruto deep in the chest. Naruto's body fell across the railing and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. "Huh? A Shadow Clone?" As Sai stood confused, Sakura's fist made contact with his face and Sai fell to the ground. Sai sat up and rubbed the side of his face. "What was that for, hag?" He asked.

Sakura placed her hands together forming the generic hand sign, and her body was surrounded by a cloud of smoke. As the smoke dissipated, Naruto stood in her place. "A simple Transformation Jutsu." He said. "You should've figured that out earlier, after all, Kakashi is on a mission with Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji to attack the Akasuki. Kakashi became the Jonin on that mission because of Asuma's death."

"Yes, I know." Sai said. "So, I know Sakura, or you in disguise, asked me to come here. So why do you want to see me?"

"You know that the next Chunin exams are going to be held soon. I want to ask you if you'll take the exams with me." Naruto said.

"Why do you want me to take the exams?" Sai asked.

"Because I need a three man squad to take the exams. I have Sakura but I need a third team member. Can you do it?"

"Technaclly, I'm not a Genin, I'm an AMBU. Besides, why do you want to take the exams? You're already more powerful than almost all of the other 15 original Genin." Sai said, now back on his feet.

"Because, they all hold the level of Chunin or higher. Kakuro, Temari, and Neji are all Jonin and Gaara is the Kazekage. I don't want to be left behind. Believe it!" Naruto said.

"All very well, but did you forget that Sakura is a Chunin as well. So, she can't participate in the upcoming Chunin exams." Sai said, leaning on the railing of the bridge.

"AWWW! I can't believe I forgot that!" Naruto screamed, clutching his head with his hands. He sank down to the ground and tapped his head against the bars of the railing.

"_Believe it,_" Sai mocked. "If you don't find a third team member to take the exams with us, you'll never become Chunin."

Naruto shot back up to his feet and pointed at Sai. "Does that mean you'll take the exams with me?!" He asked frantically.

"Yeah, sure. I wouldn't want to disappoint a friend." Sai said with a smile. An honest smile.

"YEAH!" Naruto shouted, jumping up in the air. "I'M GOING TO BECOME CHUNIN AFTER ALL! BELIEVE IT!"

Sai shook his head. "Sakura said that you matured during the two and a half years that you were gone training with the Pervy Sage. I don't see it. By the way, you said you were having trouble sleeping."

"Yeah, bad dreams." Naruto said.

"About what?" Sai asked.

"In my dream, I see the forest. A forest almost exactly like this one, and it's on fire. I see the Nine-Tailed Fox rampaging through the forest spreading the fire. He's chasing after a young woman. I can see her and I see the symbol of her clan on the back of her kimono, but I can't tell what it is. She's holding something in her arms and it looks like she's trying to protect it, but when I see her again it's gone. She then turns on the fox and uses the Rasengan, my spiral sphere, to attack the man on the fox's head. But the fox moves and looks like he's about to eat her. Then I wake up." Naruto explained.

"Interesting. Very interesting." Sai commented.

"I don't even recognize anything in my dream. Other than the Fox and the Rasengan." Naruto said.

"I can't help you with that. Just let me know if you find a third team member before that exams begin." Sai responed then walked stedily away.

Naruto stood on the bridge for another moment longer. The terrible image of the woman falling toward Kyuubi's open jaws lingered in his mind. "I think Kyuubi knows more about this than he says he does." With that thought, he walked off the bridge.


	3. Madara Uchiha

**Madara Uchiha**

Far away in the Village Hidden in the Sound, Orochimaru stands, his arms held behind his back, as he watches Sasuke train with a new technique. His snaky tongue slips out between his lips.

Three sound shinobi stand by Sasuke as he attempts the jutsu. He grabs hold of one of the three ninja and uses a kunai to cut the ninja's throat. Then with a quick movement of the hand signs he says "Summoning Jutsu: Impure World Resurrection!" Dirt and dust surround the body of the ninja Sasuke just killed and the body sank into the ground. A wooden coffin then shot out of the ground and opened. Standing in the coffin was Sasuke's father, Fugaku Uchiha.

"Very good, Sasuke." Orochimaru said in his creepy, almost feminine voice. "You have mastered the Impure World Resurrection jutsu. This will be a very useful technique if and when you choose to battle Itachi."

"That's the reason I decided to learn it, Orochimaru." Sasuke commented.

The summoned body of Fugaku sank back into the dirt. "You know, the Chunin exams are soon going to be held again in Konaha." Orochimaru said.

"You don't honestly think I'm going to participate, do you?"

"Of coarse not. I was just thinking about that annoying Nine-Tailed brat, Naruto. He's growing stronger all the time. And in his Four-Tail transformation he's strong enough to kill me." Orochimaru said.

"He's also unable to tell the difference between friend and enemy. What's your point?"

"Those idiots in Konaha haven't figured out yet that Naruto is the only one in that village, or any other village other than the Akasuki, that poses any threat to us. So we must be rid of him."

"Why not let me kill him off? I want him dead as much as Itachi." Sasuke asked.

"You are too valuable to go, but I have another of my followers in mind." Orochimaru turned and walked back to the main office of the Hidden Sound. Standing in the room, waiting, was a kunoichi with the Sound headband, long black hair, and a face quite similar to Sasuke's, although her eyes were longer and more piercing. "You wanted to see me, Lord Orochimaru?" She asked.

"Yes." Orochimaru turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke, meet your relative, Madara Uchiha."

"Uchiha?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes. She was one of my original followers who left Konaha with me. She has a special jutsu that can control the mind of tailed beasts, much like Yamoto, but more powerful." Orochimaru explained. He then turned back to Madara. "Now, my girl, you know what I need you to do."

"Yes, my lord. Return to Konaha and kill Naruto." She said.

"What makes you think you can defeat Naruto?" Sasuke asked Madara. "He does have the power of Kyuubi."

"Because I have defeated Kyuubi before. If you have had any contact with the fox then he would've mentioned me." Madara stated.

"He did say something about a Madara having 'Chakra more sinister than his own.'" Sasuke said.

"He only says that because I have the power to suppress or even block his Chakra entirely, my young cousin. I'll take care of the Uzumaki brat for you. Without the fox's Chakra, he's powerless." Madara looked up at Orochimaru. "When should I go, Lord Orochimaru?"

"Imminently."

Madara leapt from tree branch to tree branch, nearing the Hidden Leaf Village. _Konaha._ She thought. _I haven't been here in almost 15 years. Not since I used Kyuubi to destroy that clan. He's probably still sore about that._ The village came into view through the trees. She stopped just before entering the village walls, hiding in the many lacing branches.

She stood in the trees and placed her hands together forming the transformation hand sign. A puff of white smoke surrounded her body. As it dissipated, she appeared younger, closer to 15 than 30. Her hair was shorter, face rounder, and her body over all smaller. The headband no longer displayed the symbol of the Hidden Sound village, but now showed the Hidden Leaf symbol.

With the transformation complete, she jumped from her tree and landed within the borders of the Village Konaha. _Now, _she thought, _I just have to find that kid, Naruto. Lucky for me, Sasuke described what he looks like before I left._

She began walking around the village, up and down the streets. Most people saw her and didn't give it a second thought. She saw other young ninja walk past, a young man in green spandex with a ridiculous bowl haircut and the traditional green vest most Chunin wear in this village. She also saw a girl with short pink hair in a red outfit reviewing the requirements of a Chunin exam proctor. "Okay, I need to keep the Genin in line and make sure they don't…. oh, this is harder than it looks." The pink haired girl said.

Madara looked at the girl and thought, _Sasuke did say something about a girl with pink hair named Sakura and that she was on the same team as Naruto. _Madara walked up to the girl and tapped her on the shoulder. "Excuse me,"

Sakura turned around and saw the face of this girl not much older than herself. Her long dark hair held up by the Leaf Village headband on her forehead. "Yes?" Sakura asked.

"You're Sakura Haruno, right?"

"Who wants to know?" Sakura asked.

"I'm Suki Toribida and I'm looking for some one called Naruto Uzumaki."

"What do you want with Naruto?" Sakura asked, eyeing the girl suspiciously.

"I'm trying to register for the upcoming Chunin exams, but the rest of my squad is off on a mission. I heard that Naruto needed a team member and I want to know where he is." Suki said.

Sakura looked at the girl. She didn't remember any Suki Toribida in the records of graduates from the academy. She didn't really trust this girl, but then her thoughts went back to Naruto and how all the other of the original 15 Genin had surpassed him. If Naruto wanted to take the exams and finally pass to the level of Chunin, then he would need a third team member. And maybe this person could be that third team member.

"If you're looking for Naruto, you'll probably find him at the Ichiraku ramen shop." Sakura said.

"Doomo Arigato, Haruno Sakura." Suki said, bowing in respect. She then turned and started to walk away. Then she stopped. "Wait, I need a registration form. Sakura-sensei, would you be kind enough to give me one?"

Madara walked away form Sakura. How easy it was to fool the ninja in this village. The name Suki Toribida was a name she had just come up with off the top of her head, and it worked. This disguise as a Leaf Genin suited her well, she might just keep it. Stay as a Genin for a few days to contend in the Chunin exams before finally killing Naruto.

And, of coarse, the name would stay too.

It didn't take long for Madara to find the Ichiraku noodle shop. Sitting inside on a stool, swiftly gobbling down ramen, was a boy with light blond hair, an orange blazer, and matching pants. He lifted up an empty bowl and called out, "Another bowl, this time with Bar-b-que pork!" In minutes, another bowl of ramen was placed in front of him and he began to scoop it up with his chopsticks.

_Is this really Naruto? He doesn't seem like the only one who defeat Lord Orochimaru._ She walked up to the shop and sat on the stool next to Naruto. "Waiter, could you bring me a bowl of that too?"

"Sure thing." He said.

Naruto looked over at Madara with a look of distrust Naruto always has when he meets someone new. "Who are you, girl?" He asked.

"Don't people usually say, 'hi' when they meet someone new?" Madara said.

"Not me. Now, who are you?"

"My name is Suki Toribida. I've been looking for you. I hear you've been looking for a third team mate to take the exams with." She said. The bowls of ramen arrived and were placed in front of them. "Arigato." She said to the waiter.

"Yeah I am. What of it?" Naruto asked, he picked up his chopsticks and started shoveling noodles into his mouth.

Madara took a pair of chopsticks from the cup holding them and broke them apart. She held them and lifted a few noodles to her lips. After she slurped them down, she looked over at Naruto, "As it turns out, I need two team mates to take the exams. I've heard quite a few things about you; you wouldn't be opposed to me being your third teammate. Would you?" She asked.

"You would do that?" Naruto asked.

"Sure." She replied.

"YYYEEESSS!!!" Naruto shouted. He jumped off the stool and threw his arms in the air. "I'M FINALLY GOING TO ADVANCE BEYOND GENIN! BELIEVE IT!"

"Glad to have helped." Madara said. She slipped off the stool and started walking away.

"Where are you going?" Naruto asked.

"I need to fill out the application form. You can finish my ramen if you want." With that, she walked away into the shadows.

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(A/N: Yes, I know Madara is a man and really Tobi of Akatsuki and that someone that powerful would never work for Orochimaru. All these points are brought up and addressed in later chapters already posted. Patience.)


	4. The Uchiha Blood Line

**The Uchiha Blood Line**

Madara sat by the window of the hotel room she had rented for her time in Konaha. Tomorrow was the day of the Chunin exams began and she needed to conserve her strength. As it was, she was happy to have some time to relax and not have to keep that ridiculous Transformation Justu up all the time.

She looked out the window at the full moon. _It's been a long time since I've been in the Hidden Leaf Village. Almost 16 years. It appears that in that time, the Uchiha clan was all but destroyed except for Sasuke and Itachi. _She thought.

He mind wandered back to when she was in the Hidden Sound Village, just as she was getting ready to leave and Orochimaru, Kabuto, and Sasuke were leaving for a new hidden base. They moved to a new hidden base about once every week.

_Sasuke had come in to find her. "Yes, little cousin, what is it?" She asked._

"_Who are you really? And don't play games with me!" He shouted. "I know you can't be and Uchiha."_

"_And why not?" She asked._

"_Because the Uchiha are all dead!" Sasuke said. "Only I and my brother are left. And soon, he won't be around anymore."_

"_Yes, I heard about what Itachi did to our clan, but I assure you, I am full blooded Uchiha." She closed her eyes, and then reopened them slowly. Her eyes now red with three throngs around the pupil. "Is the Uchiha Kakki Genkai proof enough for you?"_

_Sasuke sneered. "Fine, you might be Uchiha, but then why didn't Itachi kill you?"_

"_Simple, I'm more powerful. In your last encounter with Naruto you showed that you have a unique skill among the Uchiha Clan, the ability to suppress the Chakra of Tailed-Beasts. This ability is even more rare than the Sharingan. But where as you have just discovered this skill, I have perfected it. I cannot only suppress a Tailed-Beast's Chakra, but also gain complete control of its mind, but only for about one hour. To do this requires skill and power greater than that of any kage. In fact, I believe the only kage that ever existed that was more powerful than myself was none other than the 4th Hokage." She said._

"_You sure do speak highly of yourself." Sasuke remarked._

"_Perhaps, but the truth is that if I went in a one-on-one fight against the Kyuubi without that technique, I'd easily be crushed."_

"_So you're not invincible," Sasuke said._

"_Far from it. Although he acts like it, even Orochimaru is not invincible. I should ask, why are you here?" She asked. "Why did you join Orochimaru?"_

"_To become strong enough to kill Itachi."_

"_Is that all, sounds like a really stupid reason." Madara replied. "And the fact that he intends to use you as a vessel for his soul means nothing to you?"_

"_No, it doesn't."_

"_Why don't you find another way to kill Itachi?"_

"_There is no other way."_

"_How about if I where to help you find and destroy Itachi? Would that work for you? I can tell you bear no allegiance to the Hidden Sound Village." She said. "And I know you don't care how it happens, just that Itachi dies. Besides, wouldn't you want to fight along side a fellow Uchiha?"_

"_What are you sudjesting?" Sasuke asked, "That I simply deflect from yet another village?"_

"_It's your choice." She said. _

Madara came out of her flash back. Strange, a person so obsessed with revenge that they don't care about their own well being or about the people who care about them. This is what the Uchiha clan had been reduced to. Once the most powerful clan ever now lost to little more than nothing.

A smile came across her face. To be truthful, the Uchiha Clan wasn't the strongest ever. The strongest was the one that she had destroyed 16 years ago today. She turned her head and looked out the window. The silver light of the moon fell in. The Clan that was guarded by Kyuubi. She would always remember the way she killed them, using their own Guardian Animal against them.

Naruto tossed and turned in bed. The dream was back and more vivid then ever. He struggled and gasped until he jumped out of bed drenched in his own sweat. He pushed the blankets off and looked up at the same moon.

The dream was different in several particulars this time. The person standing on the Fox's head wasn't a man, but a woman this time. A woman with the Hidden Sound Headband.

Also the woman running from the fox holding something in her arms was more detailed. The symbol of her clan on the back of her kimono was easily recognizable. It was a red paw print. The paw print of a fox, and the same color as Kyuubi's Chakra.

Naruto walked over to the wall and started banging his head on the wall. "Get out of there!" He said.

The dream had also changed in another particular. At one point in the dream, the woman being chased by the fox stopped and hid behind a thick grove of trees. While hiding, she pulled the blankets away from the top of the bundle. Underneath the blankets was the face of a tiny baby with light blonde hair. The child was asleep.

The mother's face softened when she looked on the face of her sleeping baby. She covered it back up and held the child close to her body. "The only place you'll be safe now is with your father." She said. To Naruto, her voice was among the most beautiful things he'd ever heard, and it sounded familiar somehow.

"I've never had that part of the dream before." Naruto said. "Huh, tomorrow is October 10, after that the dreams will finally end. They never go on past my birthday."

The next day, Naruto walked with Sai and Suki into the room where the first exam was to take place. Sai's eyes scanned over the room filled with ninja from all over the allied nations. "You realize I don't know anything about these exams." He said.

"Don't worry. I've taken these exams before. I know just how to get by them." Naruto said.

"Hey, boss!" A voice rang out above the crowd.

Naruto looked and saw Konahamaru waving his arm frantically at them. "Hey, Konahamaru! You're taken these exams too?"

"Yeah, Ebisu-sensei let us participate." Standing next to Konahamaru was Moegi and Udon.

"Who are these two?" Sai asked.

"This it Konahamaru, Moegi, and Udon. My own personal fan club." Naruto said.

"The only members in your fan club." Sai muttered. Suki giggled.

"What does that mean?!" Naruto shouted.

Another squad of ninja walked into the exam room. The first was a girl with long blond hair put up in pigtails with whisker marks on her cheeks wearing the same orange blazer as Naruto. The other two looked pretty much like random ninja. Sai saw them, and shot a stupid look at Naruto. "Naruto, no one but an idiot would be fooled by that." Sai said.

"Hey, who's that girl?" Suki asked.

Sai's shoulders slumped and his head fell. "Naruto, why did you make that?"

"You'll see." Naruto said.

The door flew open and several higher-ranking ninja entered the room. Some carried small pieces of paper with numbers on them, while another held a stack of papers and a handful of pencils.

The ninja standing in front of them wore a tan-green coat over a black button up shirt. The collar of the shirt covered the lower half of his face. He wore black sunglasses that obscured his eyes. "Alright, children, no more talking." He said.

Naruto raised his arm and started waving at the lead ninja. "Hey, Shino! What's up?"

Shino pulled a kunai out of the holster on his leg and threw it at Naruto. The knife sped through the air, and almost hit Naruto except Suki caught the kunai by the handle before it could hit its mark. "I said shut up. And hello, Naruto." Shino replied. "Okay, listen up. I am Shino Aburame, your proctor."

"Friend of yours?" Suki asked.

"Oh, yeah. Well, kind of." Naruto said. "I never really got to know him too well, but he's one of the original 15 genin."

"All of you need to get in a single file line and stand by the front desk. You will each be given a number and that number will tell you were to sit. We will begin the written exam momentarily." Shino said.

"WRITEN EXAM!" Konahamaru screamed. "I can't take a written exam!"

"Don't be so worried, Konahamaru." Udon said. "Written exams are no problem for me."

"That's because you're weird." Konahamaru stated.

They each were given their number and took their seats. Konahamaru was seated right next to Naruto. As Shino began to explain the rules, Naruto simply placed his head on his hand and stared blankly into space. He'd already heard all this; he didn't need to hear it again. And of course Shino told them about the cheating thing, two points deducted for every time caught cheating and if caught five times they'd get thrown out, literally.

"And for those of you who will try anyway, just remember. I have all these eagle eyed sentinels stationed throughout the room, watching you every move. Plus," Shino held up his hand and a small beetle descended out of the air and landed on his finger, "I have plenty of my own spies watching you. Begin the test."

Suddenly the room was filled with the sound of rustling papers and pencils scribbling. Sweat practically poured down Konahamaru's face. Naruto merely turned the paper over and sat back in his chair, relaxing.

Suki/Madara saw Naruto just sitting there; she wondered _What are you up to, boy?_ She closed her eyes slowly, then flashed them open again. _Sharingan! _With her enhanced eyes she took a close look at the blond girl with pig-tails. He suspitions were confirmed. _Clever, Naruto. A clone. Wait a minute, that's a Shadow Clone! How interesting. Now, who's got the answers?_

Sai pulled out his own personal paint brush and some of his ink. He took it and began to paint the picture of a small insect on his test document. Once the picture was complete, he put his brush away and placed his hands under the table. After making a few choice hand signs he whispered, "Super Beast Imitation Picture Justu." The insect peeled off the page and flew up into the air. It flew over to the paper of another test taker and looked down on their answers. Shino suddenly looked up, noticing there was an insect in this room very different than any of the others.

The girl with the pig-tails, along with her two team mates, simply stood up and looked over the shoulders of the ninjas in front of them. Each got a different answer then sat back down to write it up. They each did this five times a piece. On the fifth time, Shino threw a kunai at the girls paper, pinning it to the table. The action attracted the attention of every person in the room. "Number 23 fails." He said.

"Numbers 78 and 54 fail." The sentinels said afterwards. The girl and her two teammates both got up and silently walked out of the room.

Once the three of them were far enough away, they each put their hands together to form a hand sign and a puff of smoke surrounded each of them. As the smoke dissipated, they were revealed to be none other than three shadow clones of Naruto. Another puff of smoke surrounded them and they disappeared.

Back inside, Naruto smiled as he felt his clones disappear. All the knowlage they had aquiered about the answers to the test had been relayed back to him. He now knew all the answers, although he knew it didn't really matter if he did or not. He still wrote them down.

Next to him, Konahamaru paniced. He was practaically pulling his hair out. Naruto saw this and smiled. "Don't worry, Konahamaru." He whispered. "I know a super cool justu that will easily get you to pass."

"Really?" konahamaru's voice craked with excitement.

"Yeah, watch." Naruto closed his eyes and placed his hands on both his and Konahamaru's test. Suddenly, naruto pulled Konahamaru's test over to him and replaced Konahamaru's test with his own. "Cheating Style: Test Switch Justu!"


	5. One Down, Two To Go

**One Down, Two To Go**

Naruto slid the paper back to Konahamaru, the answers completely filled out. "There you are, test almost finished."

"Thank you, thank you, boss!" Konahamaru exclaimed.

Naruto placed his hand over Konahamaru's mouth. "Quiet." Naruto whispered. "You can't scream like that. We both already loss two points off our tests for that little stunt I pulled. Keep screaming like that, and you'll be gone for good." Naruto slowly pulled his hand away.

"Right, sorry, boss."

Naruto looked over at the clock on the wall. "20 minutes till. In five minutes, Shino will give us the tenth question."

"What's so important about the tenth question?" Konahamaru asked.

"You'll see."

Indeed, Konahamaru did see when the clock struck 15 till. "Okay, listen up," Shino called, "it's time to give out the last question."

Konahamaru listened up intently, but Naruto closed his eyes, leaned back in his chair, propped his feet on the table, and practically went to sleep. _I know all this stuff already._ He thought. Naruto heard as Shino told them of the special rules that went along with question ten and of the chance to simply skip the question. _Of coarse, I'll be fine._ He glanced over at Konahamaru shivering next to him. _But what about Konahamaru?_

"I can't take this, that question must be too high for me to get. I might just have to take my chances next year." Konahamaru muttered.

Naruto placed his hand on Konahamaru's shoulder. "Don't sweat it. And for goodness sake, don't quit. Just sit tight and wait."

Even as Naruto said this, several of the genin in the room raised their hands and quit. As the flunkies left the room, Naruto looked around. _30 genin left. 10 squads. Less than half the number of last time. If this is all, than I'm going to pass this easy._

"If everyone else is staying, then I guess I should tell you…" Shino said, "that you've all passed the first exam."

Konahamaru fainted and hit the floor with a thud. Naruto looked down at his biggest fan with a look of surprise on his face. "Now, how did that happen?" Naruto reached down and grabbed Konahamaru by the shirt. He lifted the body of the younger genin and placed him back in his chair. "Just sit there and pretend to listen. I'm going back to sleep." Naruto closed his eyes and did slowly slip away into dream world.

His sleep was cut short by the door being smashed down and the wood flying away in splinters. In the ruble stood a girl with short pink hair tied back with a red headband, and a red shirt with a white circle on the back. The sound of the door smashing woke Konahamaru. Naruto lifted one hand in the air and wave, "Hey, Sakura!"

"All right, kids. Listen up. I'm going to be your proctor for the second exam, Sakura Haruno." She saw Naruto waving. "And Hi, Naruto." She took one step forward and slammed her foot into the floor. A crater formed in the ground where her foot had been placed. "All right student, you're now dismissed. I already let your jonin leaders know where to meet me tomorrow. We'll see how well you do then."

Naruto wandered down the street, Suki following behind him. "You handled that test rather well."

"I already took the test once before. I know how they work." Naruto smiled. "Besides, I'm already more powerful than any genin and even most chunin. Kakashi once even said my skill level surpassed his."

"Really." Suki said. _He'd have to be if he was such a threat to Orochimaru. Could this 15-year old kid who only hold the level of genin really be stronger than the legendary Kakashi?_ "Just how powerful?"

"If I compared myself to the others of the original 15, most of them couldn't stand a chance against me."

"Who are those that could?" Suki asked.

Naruto's head fell against his chest and his shoulders slumped. "Possibly Gaara, but most of all Sasuke."

"Sasuke?"

"Sasuke. He was my best friend and he once considered me to be a friend. Now he seeks only to kill me in order to get his more advanced Sharingan and defeat Itachi. That's all he lives for now." Naruto muttered. "That's why he's so difficult to defeat, all he does is quest for power so he can defeat Itachi. He doesn't care about friends anymore, while I want to bring him back he wants to kill me."

"Oh," Suki whispered. _I think I got myself involved in something bigger than I originally thought._

That night, as Naruto slept a dream came to him again. Although much different from the original.

_The full moon shined brightly overhead on this clear October night. A large red tail swished passed the moon. A tail belonging to the Nine-Tailed Fox. The fox snarled and growled, its breath appearing before it in puffs of steam. The tails lashed back and forth leaving ravines in mountainsides and blotches of trees smashed._

"_Where is he?!" The fox growled. "Where is that boy, bring him to me! I'll destroy this entire village if I have to in order to find him."_

_The Ninja from the village waited in the forest below. "Hold the attack and wait for the 4th Hokage!"_

"_It's coming closer, don't let it near the village!"_

"_What have you done with him?!" Kyuubi roared._

_The ground shook as large webbed feet crashed into the earth. A toad of deep red skin wearing a blue robe, a dagger tied to its waist and a pipe in its mouth appeared. Gamma Bunta. Standing on Gamma Bunta's head was a man with blue eyes, spiky blond hair, and wearing the leaf village headband. The 4th Hokage._

"_Kyuubi! Why are you here?" He cried._

"_I'm looking for him. The one I must protect. You know where he is, don't you?"_

"_Yes I do."_

"_Then you can bring him to me, and I'll leave the village in peace. I know Toribida brought him to you to keep safe. Where is he?"_

"_She also told me to protect him even from you." The 4th said._

"_I'm his guardian animal. Arashi, I know you. I know this boy means the world to you. That's why you must give him to me, only I can protect him from Madara." Kyuubi pleaded._

"_Madara is the reason Toribida brought him to me. If you couldn't stop Madara from destroying the rest of your clan, what makes you think that you can protect him?"_

"_It's my job."_

"_And it's my job to protect this village and all its inhabitance. That includes the child. If I have to, I'll give my life to save them."_

"_Arashi, I know your strengths. Even you can't defeat me. If I have to, as much as I don't want to, I will kill you."_

"_Then I see only one way to end this. I know a jutsu that will allow me to protect this village, and will also allow you to watch over the child his whole life." The 4th placed his hands together and formed the required hand signs. A bright light appeared behind him and the jutsu commenced. "Reaper Death Seal!"_

Naruto bolted up from his bed, gasping for breath. He buried his face in his hands and cursed. "Dammit, what is it with these stupid dreams?" He growled. "Kyuubi!"

"What?" Kyuubi growled back.

"What do you know about these dreams?"

"You the one having them, not me."

"But you know more than you say. Who is Madara? Did you really know the 4th? Was Arashi his name? And are these stupid things true?"

"I can't tell you anything until you find out for yourself. The 4th's seal stops me. But I will tell you that these dreams you're having are all true. They are all my memories escaping into your subconscious."

"Then you did know the 4th, and his name really was Arashi.(A/N info might be incorrect) Then why did you let someone ride on your head?"

"I didn't!"

"And who was that child you were looking for?"

To this question, Kyuubi fell silent. No matter how Naruto provoked it, the fox would expose no more secrets. Eventually, he got tired enough, that Naruto simply fell back in bed and fell into a dreamless slumber.

Deep inside, Kyuubi contemplated to himself. "I want to tell you, I really do, but I can't. Not until either the seal breaks or you learn the hard way."


	6. Sakura's Proposal

**Sakura's Proposal**

Naruto stood in a green field just outside high steel fences. Beside him stood Sai and Suki. Naruto rubbed his eye with his right hand, his mouth opened in a yawn.

"What's with you, Naruto?" Sai asked.

"It's those dreams again. They're keeping me awake all night."

"Dreams?" Suki asked.

"Oh, they're nothing." Naruto replied. "Okay, Sakura is about to talk."

Behind Naruto, the ten other squads of genin stood at attention as Sakura appeared before them. "All, right kiddies. This is the location for the second exam. The 44th battle training zone, better known as the Forest of Death. The objective is simple," She held out a pile of small slips of paper. "Naruto, could you pass these out?"

"Sure." Naruto reached for the paper slips. When he had them safely secured in his hands, he placed his hands together and formed a hand sign. "Shadow Clone Jutsu." In a puff of smoke, thirty Narutos now stood where once only a single ninja stood. The clones dispersed to the other squads and gave each genin a sheet. Once the task was done, the clones vanished.

"Arigato, Naruto." Sakura said. "Okay, once each of you fill out your paper work, you and your squad will turn it in to the chunin behind that curtain." Sakura pointed to the two ninja who usually work on the exams as they set up the booth. "They will give you either an Earth Scroll, or a Heaven Scroll." She held up the respective scrolls as she talked. "The objective is to reach the tower in the center of this forest with your entire squad alive and with both scrolls. You may use any means nessacary to get them. You have five days."

"That doesn't sound too bad." One of the genin said.

"Oh, it's bad. Don't get cocky, you'll likely be the first to get killed." Sakura smiled. "Also, you must never open the scrolls. You don't want to know what will happen. Everyone ready? Good, then start writing. At 12:30, you will need to be standing by a gate with a scroll in hand."

Naruto, Sai, and Suki began to fill out their papers. "How though will this be?" Sai asked.

"Don't worry too much about it, I already have a plan." Naruto said.

"You mean like the clones you used during part one?" Suki smiled.

"You could say that."

Naruto filled out the paper work with ease. Once he and his sustitute team had the scroll, and Earth Scroll, they stood at the gate and waited. One by one, the other teams finished and waited at their gates, too. At 12:30, Sakura shouted, "All right, kids. The second Exam has begun!"

The gates flew open and the ten squads of genin raced in as fast as they could and began the search for the scrolls.

Tsunade sat at the Hokage's desk, doing what Hokages do. As she sat, a knock came at the door. She lifted her head from the paperwork. "Yes, come in."

The door opened slowly and Sakura stepped in. "Excuse me, Lady Hokage."

"Yes, Sakura, what is it?"

"I just wanted to inform you that the second test has begun."

"This is news to me how?"

"Naruto is taking the exams. And that's what I want to talk to you about." Sakura said. "Naruto is perhaps the most powerful of all the original 15, but he's still the only one ranked at genin."

"You want me to advance he to chunin at the end of this exam no matter what, is that it?" Tsunade asked.

"No, not that. I, well, I want to know if, after these exams, we could advance him all the way to Jonin."

The pencil in Tsunade's hand snapped. Her movements ceased. "You want to advance Naruto to Jonin strait from Genin? That's never happened in the history of ninja. Not even with the sanin or even the 4th Hokage."

"But Naruto is an exception. He never had the chance to advance beyond genin. His skills are more advanced than even Kakashi's, and he's supposed to be the most powerful jonin in the village."

"Sakura, it wouldn't be completely up to me. The council would have to agree and so would the Kazekage."

"Well, no problem there. Gaara, the Kazekage, counts Naruto as one of his closest friends." Sakura smiled.

"But the council will also have to agree with it. And I doubt Danzo will be so eger to advance Naruto to Jonin. You know what he is."

"It's true," a voice said behind them. A familiar voice. Sakura turned back to face the door and saw Kakashi stepping in on a crutch.

"Kakashi-sensei, what are you doing out of bed? You're still recovering from the fight with Kakuzu." Sakura said.

"This is more important. Tsunade-sama, I have to agree with Sakura on this one. Naruto more than deserves the title of Jonin. Besides that, we all do know what Naruto is, one of the demon children. But, Tsunade, you know what else he is."

Tsunade nodded. "Yes, I know." Both she and Kakashi starred out the back window at the now five Great Stone Faces. Their eyes fix on the image of the Forth Hokage. "I'll talk to the council. If it gets passed them then it'll be up to the Kazekage. That's all I can promise."


	7. Test Two Continues

**Test Two Continues**

Naruto leapt from branch to branch, Sai and Suki following close behind. All the while, Naruto kept a watchful eye in every direction. As he approached the next tree branch, his feet impacted into the bark and Naruto came to a stop. Sai and Suki landed next to him.

"What are we doing stopping here?" Sai asked.

"We're going to go scouting. We split up from here and search through the forest for the other squads, if either of you find a squad with an opposing scroll, come find me and tell me." Naruto said.

"Why find you?" Suki asked.

"Because I'll be easier to find. Alright, let's move." Naruto shoved off against the tree and strait up to a higher branch. He kept jumping until they lost sight of him in the trees.

"He can be annoying at times." Sai said.

"Yeah, I can tell." Suki replied.

The two of them leapt from the tree branch in opposing directions and continued on their quest through the trees.

Meanwhile, Sakura left the office of Lady Tsunade. A sense of accomplishment came with her. Maybe, just maybe, Naruto would be promoted to the level of Jonin after this test. She knew how much Naruto wanted to be brought up passed the level of Genin. Ever since she saw him that day, just after their second bell test with Kakashi-sensei.

_Sakura returned to the testing grounds. The sun shined high overhead, a faint breeze stirred the leaves in the trees, and the creek bubbled and splashed over its rock bed. There in the center field, leaning up against the middle post of the three posts, was Naruto. His back was to her, his arms were crossed, and it almost looked like he was sulking._

_Sakura took one step toward him, "I know you're there, Sakura. I can hear you."_

"_Naruto, what are you doing out here? Kakashi-sensei and I are looking for you."_

"_I'm just thinking to myself," Naruto said, and after a few seconds, "Sakura-sensei."_

"_Sensei? Naruto," Sakura chuckled to herself. "I'm no sensei."_

"_But you are. I am still a Genin. You are full blown Chunin. A Journey Man ninja while I am still only considered a ninja trainee. The bottom of the peaking order."_

"_Naruto, you no simple Genin. Everyone, Kakashi-sensei, Tsunade-Sama, Shizune, Jiriaya, even most of the others including myself see you as much more than a Genin."_

"_I know, believe it. And I feel like more than a Genin, but to everyone outside our little inner-circle it's what's written on paper that counts, not what we feel. And what's written on paper is that I am still a worthless trainee good for nothing but D and maybe a few small C-rank missions. I could be so much better."_

"_We all know you can, Naruto. Come on, it's mission time."_

Sakura remembered that day as she walked down the hall away from the Hokage's office. She truly felt sorry for Naruto. He'd been left out of everything. If anyone deserved to be higher than a Genin, it was Naruto.

Back in the forest, Madara jumped from tree branch to tree branch. Her Sharingan activated to see further and find any potential pray. These Genin rats would be so easy to pounce on. Although her Sharingan was active, she still kept her Transformation-Jutsu on as well.

She spotted a team ahead. She slowed her pace so as to not cause too much noise. Stopping right above them, she noticed that it was Konohamaru's squad. Her super sharp eyes easily spotted the scroll they held, a heaven scroll. The opposite of what she had.

She pulled a Kunai from the holster on her leg and prepared to attack when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "I wouldn't." She deactivated her Sharingan and turned to face the other ninja and found it to be Naruto. "Don't attack that squad."

"Why not? In this part of the exam, everyone outside our own team is an enemy. And besides, they have the scroll we need. Why not take it?" Suki asked.

"Because Konohamaru is a friend of mine. And I want to see how well he can do in this exam. Hopefully, I want to see him pass the second exam."

"No such word as friend during the Chunin exams."

"There is in my book." Naruto took his hand off her shoulder. "Besides, why would you want to take a scroll from them? There are four other heaven scrolls out there. In fact, in the few minutes that we've been taking here, I've found one about one hundred yards away. Sai's there now."

"How could you have found another scroll a hundred yards away when you're talking here with me?"

"Duh, Shadow Clones. I have the forest crawling with them. And right now, one of them just got attacked by an army of leeches." Naruto said. "Anyway, shall we go join Sai in attempting to get that Heaven scroll?"

Suki groaned. "Fine." Together, they jumped off through the forest in the direction of their fellow team mate. _Shadow Clones?_ Madara thought. _How could he be able to use that Jutsu now? Only a few minutes ago he used it to hand out the paper work for the exam. That was 30 clones right there. How could he have enough chakra left over after that to continue with his clones?_

The two of them burst through the branches and leaves and saw Sai fighting against a squad from the Hidden Waterfall Village. One of the Genin held twin scythes about a foot high each connected with a thick metal chain. The second had a black umbrella strapped across his back. The kunoichi of the group had a large drum of water on her back.

"Nice of you guys to show up." Sai said.

"You're welcome." Naruto said. He raced into battle, pulling a kunai from the holster on his leg. He threw it with great force, but the Kunoichi of the Waterfall Genin simply pulled out two shuriken and threw them both at Naruto. One of the shuriken canceled out the kunai. The other one struck Naruto in the forehead.

As Naruto fell to the ground, his body disappeared in a burst of white smoke. "Another Shadow Clone? How many of those things does he have out here?" Suki asked. She faced the Waterfall Genin and placed her hands together forming a series of hand signs, ending with the horse and the tiger. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" Seven or eight balls of fire flew from her mouth and streamed toward the Waterfall Kunoichi.

The waterfall ninja pulled the water drum off her back and pulled the top off as she formed her hand signs. "Water Style: Water Wall Jutsu!" The water pulled itself from the drum and formed a wall around her, blocking the fire balls. The fire hit the water in a puff of steam. The water fell away, the ninja inside unharmed.

"A fire style technique, interesting. But fire can't defeat my water jutsu." She said. "Perhaps we should introduce ourselves. My name is Aiko. The knife guy over there is Kyoami," Kyoami grinned to reveal rows of sharp teeth. His spiky black hair hung slightly over his eyes. "And the guy with the umbrella is Amanchi."

Naruto suddenly fell from the trees above, landing once again in front of the Waterfall Genin. "Frankly, I don't care who you are. All I want is that heaven scroll."

Amanchi reached into his side pouch and pulled out the heaven scroll. "You mean this? If you want it, then you'll have to take it." He slipped it back into his side pouch and grabbed hold of the umbrella's handle. He pulled it free and threw it up into the air. Forming a hand sign, he shouted "Ninja Art: Senboin Rainstorm!" The umbrella began to spin, faster and faster. Needles started to spin free from the tips and fall all around them. "These needles I can direct with my chakra to go anywhere I want them to. So, none of you can dodge them. No blind spots. No one has ever escaped this jutsu."

"I know someone who has." Naruto said. "His name is Gaara." As the needles fell streaming towards him, Naruto placed his hands together forming a hand sign with the first two fingers of his left hand sticking up and the first two fingers of his right hand going across them forming a cross. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" All around Naruto, clones of himself began to appear. Once about ten clones appeared, they piled themselves over the real Naruto and the needles struck, embedding themselves into the clones.

As the needles approached Suki, she just closed her eyes and reopened them red. Sharingan. She than began to pluck the senboin one by one out of the air with lightning speed. Whenever one got too close to her she simply pulled it out of the sky.

Sai placed his hands together, formed the necessary signs and shouted, "Earth Style: Head Hunter Jutsu!"(A/N: don't know if he can really do that.) The ground opened up beneath him and Sai disappeared into the earth. The needles harmlessly struck the ground.

After all the needles had fallen, Suki dropped the ones she'd been holding, all the Naruto clones vanished and Sai reemerged from the earth. "Well, you are some talented Genin since you each know such a wide range of jutsu." Amanchi said. "I guess this will be a rather fun battle, eh Aiko?"

"Indeed." Aiko replied.


	8. A Heaven Scroll

-1**A Heaven Scroll**

"Well then, let's do this." Naruto said. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Five clones appeared around Naruto.

"A shadow clone technique. Interesting. That Jutsu is above genin level. But don't get cocky, we are the strongest genin in the entire waterfall village." Amanchi stated.

"Good." Suki replied. "I was hoping this wouldn't be boring." _Plus, I can use this opportunity to kill Naruto during the heat of this battle._ She thought.

"Come on, Let's get to it!" Kyoami growled. He charged as fast as he could a d swung both his scythes at Sai. Sai jumped back, the blades sliced right through his clothes. Kyoami kept swinging his scythes back and forth with lightning speed. With each swipe, Sai had to keep stepping back.

Sai felt something hard and ruff press against his back. A tree. He'd been backed into a tree. Kyoami grinned and swung both scythes at Sai's head. As the blades approached, Sai ducked and they caught in the wood of he tree. Sai kicked his leg out and spun around, kicking the legs out from under the waterfall genin.

Naruto and Suki watched the fight, transfixed. "don't get distracted." Aiko said. "Water Style: Water Sword Jutsu!" After the necessary hand signs, she dipped her hand into the water drum and pulled out a sword made entirely of water. She raced for Suki, swinging the water sword down on her opponent. Suki concentrated her chakra to her feet and propelled herself into the air and away from Aiko.

Suki placed her hands together in a quick succession of hand signs. "Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!" A huge ball of fire flew from her mouth and down at Aiko. Aiko lifter her sword and blocked the flames, which dissipated in a puff of steam.

"Your fire Jutsu are useless against me." Aiko said. She swung her sword in an arch. Water detached from the sword and hovered in the air. The water in the air started to spin, faster and faster. The five spinning circles of water in the air grew ragged edges. "Water Style: Water Shuriken Jutsu!" The water shuriken zoomed through the air and toward Suki.

"Ah, damn!" Suki cursed. She braced her feet against a tree branch and pushed herself away. The water shuriken smashed and sliced their way through the wood, destroying the tree. _They certainly are better than Genin level. I just hope I wouldn't have to use the Sharingan against them._

"I guest then, that it's my turn." Amanchi said. He grabbed one of his umbrella's and threw it at Naruto. Naruto caught the umbrella and instantly fell to the ground under it's unnatural weight.

"What's up with this?" Naruto shouted.

"The pole and fingers on that umbrella are all made of lead. It's designed to be extra heavy." Amanchi picked up one of his other umbrellas. He pressed a buttons on the inside and a sharp blade popped out of the top.

Two Naruto clones ran toward Amanchi, Kunai drawn. As they approached, Amanchi jumped up above them and slammed his feet on their head. A third clone came at him from behind, holding a kunai as well. Amanchi flipped backwards and thrust the blade from his umbrella into the chest of the clone. All three disappeared in a puff of smoke.

As he came back to a regular stance, he suddenly saw the real Naruto falling out of the air right in front of him, a blue sphere of chakra in his right hand. "Rasengan!" Naruto yelled. Amanchi managed to push his umbrella between him and Naruto, but it did little good. The Rasengan smashed its way through the umbrella and the force of the compact chakra sent Amanchi flying through the air and crashing into a nearby tree.

All of the other four ninja in the area had seen what had happened between Naruto and Amanchi. Madara starred awe struck. _Rasengan! How does he know that technique? I haven't seen that jutsu since Toribida used it against the Kyuubi. Sasuke forgot to tell me about that little tidbit of information._

Aiko watched, stunned that one of her teammates could be tossed aside so easily. _What is that jutsu? I've never seen anything like it, and with no hand signs either._

"Naruto!" Sai called. "Are you sure it was a good idea to waste using that technique this early in the exams? Wouldn't it have been better to wait until letter?"

"I'm not a peciant person. I was getting to eager to unveil my signature jutsu."

"Still, wasting the 4th Hokage's jutsu like that?" Sai continued.

_The 4th Hokage!? Not only does Naruto look like him, but he's also mastering Minato Namikaze's Jutsu. This could be very troublesome. _Madara thought to herself.

Naruto walked over to Amanchi's body and pulled the heaven scroll from the pouch on his side. His last shadow clone walked over and took the scroll from him. "Suki, Sai, I believe we should make our exit."

"Why?" Suki asked.

"Just trust me, my clone will take care of these two. In fact, I'm so confident, that I'm going to let him hold on to this Heaven scroll." Naruto said. "Just move. Get out of range." Naruto pushed against the ground and propelled his way through the trees.

"He is such a knucklehead." Sai said. He shoved Kyoami away and followed Naruto's leave.

"Fine." Suki groaned, and followed.

This left a Naruto clone, Aiko, and Kyoami in the clearing. Aiko turned to the last Naruto clone. "So, if we have to crush you, then okay." SHe lifter her sword and charged at the shadow clone. Kyoami held up both of his scythes and charged at the shadow clone.

The Naruto clone smiled and grabbed the edge of the scroll. Just as Aiko and Kyoami were about to tear him apart, the clone pulled the scroll open and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Naruto, Suki, and Sai came back to the clearing only to find that the waterfall genin were both unconscious. The Heaven scroll lay open on the ground.

"So that was your plan, Naruto." Sai said.

"To use the scroll to put our enemies to sleep. Not bad at all." Suki said.

"Arigatoo Gozaimasu." Naruto replied. He jumped down from the tree and grabbed the Heaven scroll, rolling back up. "Okay, now to the tower."


	9. Waiting at the Tower

-1**Waiting at the Tower**

Naruto pushed the doors to the tower open and walked into the dimly lit building. Following him was Sai and Suki. In their hands, they held the Heaven and Earth scrolls.

"What do we do now?" Sai asked.

"Now, we open the scrolls." Naruto replied. "And when we do, we get greeted by a chunin advisor."

Suki hardly heard any of this. Her mind was still back in the battle, when Naruto used the Rasengan against that waterfall genin. _My guess, is that Jiraiya taught him that Jutsu. After all, since Minato was the student of that particular Sannin, it would only make sense that Minato would teach his sensei that Jutsu. _Madara thought. She then smiled to herself. _However, I am also the student of a Sannin._

"Suki!?" Naruto shouted.

Suki's head jolted up, out of her trance. "Huh?"

"The scroll, please?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, of course." She held it out to him.

Naruto grabbed the scroll out of Suki's hand and pulled it open. Sai did the same. They then tossed the scrolls to the ground and watched as the Summoning Jutsu activated in a cloud of smoke. A figure appeared as the smoke started to fade. Once it finally cleared away, the Chunin revealed herself, again, someone Naruto knew.

"Hinata- Chan!" Naruto shouted.

"Oh, hello, Naruto-kun." Hinata blushed. Her long black hair flowed far past her shoulders. In the two years since Naruto had left and returned, she had truly matured both physically and mentally. Although, every encounter with Naruto still rendered her paralyzed and speechless.

The blood rushed to her face and her cheeks turned red. She placed her hands behind her back and tried to hide her face while scraping her foot against the ground, all in a failing attempt to hide her embarrassment. Failing for everyone accept Naruto.

Sai looked at her with an inquisitive eye. "Hey, Naruto, why is her face so red? And why is her head turned away like she's trying to hid something? And why are her hands behind her back? And why is she twirling the toe of her foot against the ground? And why does she look so shy and embarrassed? And why-" he was cut off from his continued questioning when Suki walked over to him, grabbed him by the shoulder, and dragged him out of earshot. "Why did you do that?" Sai asked.

"Are you that much of an idiot? She's doing that because she is completely in infatuated with Naruto and is too shy to tell him. Plus, Naruto is too much of an idiot to discover it for himself." Suki said.

"Really?" Sai pulled out one of his relationship books and started flipping through the pages. "This book doesn't say anything about that."

Suki smacked her hand against her forehead and groaned. "Great, I'm stuck on a team with a couple of dumbstruck boys who know nothing about girls."

"No, I know stuff." Sai said. "I read it in another book I found at the library." He reached into the pouch on his side and pulled out a copy of the book. He held it up in Suki's face. "This one, 'Icha Icha Paradise!'"

Suki walked over to the wall and started hitting her forehead against it hard enough to give most people a concussion.

"I can't put it down. The story is so amazing and the author has the best description of the intimate scenes." Sai giggled, flipping the book open and started reading.

Both Naruto and Hinata watched from afar at the scene unfolding. "Hm, wonder what's up with them." Naruto said.

"Um, yeah." Hinata replied almost inaudibly. "Well, I guess, congratulations then, Naruto-kun."

Naruto look over at Hinata thinking. "Hinata-Chan, is everything alright? I'll bet you don't act like this around everyone." He started to approach her, then stopped. "If I walk up to you, will you head butt me again?"

"Oh, no, no. I wouldn't do that to you." Hinata replied

"You did last time."

"Yes, I know, and I'm so sorry about that. I'm so sorry, sorry, sorry,…"

"You don't have to keep apologizing." Naruto said, he walked right up to her, now standing less then two feet away from her.

Hinata's entire face turned bright red, and then started becoming redder and redder. Her lower lip started quivering. She couldn't help it, the anxiety was to great. She jumped at Naruto.

The top of her head hit Naruto right under the chin. The impact sent a jolt to Naruto's brain and the next thing he knew, he was out cold.

"Oh, no!" Hinata cried. "Help! I think I killed him!"

Suki and Sai both looked up from their previous activities of reading a dirty book and banging one's head against the wall. Suki looked back with a drowsy look on her face. _Great, maybe she killed him before I could._ She thought.

"Awe, I was just getting to the good part." Sai said, as he placed the book back into his side pouch.

Naruto's mind wandered in a world of darkness. There was nothing around him. All of everything was nothing. He had no idea how long he remained like that, but eventually an image finally started to form.

The image was of a man laying in bed, with a woman next to him. The man's hair was spiky and bright blonde, like Naruto's, and his eyes where also like Naruto's, blue. But there where no whisker marks on his cheeks. The woman next to him was not at all unattractive, in fact, Naruto thought she was very beautiful. Her hair was a lovely red, similar to her eyes.

It was the woman that spoke first. "Arashi," she said, "what are we going to do?"

"Why do you keep calling me Arashi? My name is Minato."

"I like calling you Arashi. It's my pet name for you. But, what are we going to do? This baby will change our lives forever." she said, her hand moving over her stomach.

The man, Minato, moved his hand over top of hers. "Yes, it will. But this is a blessing, and we will treat it as such." His lips connected with hers.

After a moment, they pulled apart and looked lovingly into each other's eyes. "I love you so much." She said, "but we cannot truly be together. What about our son? We will have to go our separate ways eventually. How can we care for a child like that?"

Minato moved in closer to the woman at his side. "We will find a way, Kushina." He said. "I even have a name for him."

"What is it?" Kushina asked.

"It is-"

"Naruto!" A voice shouted. Naruto's eyes snapped wide open and he jolted to his feet. "Good, you're awake. For a second, we'd thought you'd croaked." Suki said.

"Oh," Naruto moaned, rubbing the underside of his chin. "How long was I out for?"

"A few hours." Sai said. "Hinata head butted you under the chin, and you passed out."

Hinata stood behind the two of them. "I'm so sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Like I said before, you don't have to keep apologizing." Naruto said. "I'm fine guys, really. I just need to be by myself." Naruto steadily got to his feet and walked away. While he walked, thoughts ran through his mind. _Was that another one of those weird dreams? Kyuubi said that all the dreams were actually his memories seeping through the seal and into my subconscious, but then why wasn't he in this one? Was that even one of his memories? What is with these stupid dreams?_


	10. The Second Test Concluded

**The Second Test Concluded**

Naruto sat on the windowsill on the third floor of the tower. The light from the moon shown in, painting the entire world silver. The moon was no longer full, it was beginning to wan away as the nights past. This was now the forth night they had been there, waiting for any other examines to show up. As of yet, no one had made it.

Naruto rubbed the sleep from his eyes. The current time, 1:30 am. He hadn't slept in almost a full day. But he couldn't bring himself to sleep. Each time he did, another bad dream would come. But, of coarse, he could not stay awake forever. Even if Gaara did a rather good job of it.

"Sleep, Naruto." The deep, raspy voice of the Kyuubi said. "You need your strength."

"Awe, shut up. I'm not listening to you." Naruto replied.

"Your sleeplessness has made you one cranky little brat. Well, more of a cranky brat than you were before. Go to sleep!" Kyuubi growled.

"What are you, my mother? Just be quiet."

"The longer you stay awake, the weaker your body becomes. Eventually, you will be forced to retire into the darkness. Whether by your own free will or not."

As the clock ticked, Naruto's eyelids grew heavier and heavier. Soon, he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. _Maybe,_ he thought, _I'll just rest my eyes._ He finally closed his eyes. In less than a minute, he was asleep.

_A young girl, about 11 or 12, with deep red hair and red eyes walked through the streets of the village Konoha. Her clothes could only be described as standard. Her hands were held behind her back and her head was held high, taking in the sights. She was kind of acting like she had never been to the village before._

_A young boy walked past her. He had bright spiky blond hair and blue eyes. A Hidden leaf head band shimmered in the sunlight. As he walked past, his shoulder bumped against hers. "Oh, excuse me." he said._

"_That's all right." the girl replied._

"_I haven't seen your face around here before. My name in Minato Namikaze." The boy said._

"_I am, uuuuuhhh…" After a moments hesitation she finally answered, "Kushina. Kushina Uzumaki. I come from the Land of the Whirlpools."_

"_Hm." Minato nodded. "Well, it was nice to meet your Kushina. I need to go meet with my sensei and squad now. I might see you around sometime."_

"_Sure." Kushina answered. Minato bowed, then turned away and kept walking._

_The Kyuubi raced through the forest. The sun was directly over head. It's claws feet tore at the ground as it ran. Ahead of it was a small settlement. This was its destination. As it approached, Kyuubi came to a stop and roared. A roar so loud it slip the air._

_From the settlement, a single villager approached the giant demon. Upon seeing it, the villager shouted at the top of her lungs, "Our Guardian has returned! The great Kyuubi has returned!"_

_An uproar of cheers rose from the small settlement. All the men, women, and children had gathered to see their guardian. "Must you do this every time I return, Toribida?" Kyuubi asked._

"_Forgive me, master." The woman said. Her hair was black and tied back in a bun. She wore a white kimono that had the symbol of the fox's foot print on the back._

"_As a member of this clan, I guess it is only natural for you to be excited by my return." Kyuubi said._

"_My master, I worry whenever you leave us like that. What if someone comes along and finds us while you are gone?" Toribida said._

"_You need not worry, Toribida. I constantly know what is happening in your settlement. If anything bad come this way, I will know and race to help you."_

"_I was speaking of you, Master Kyuubi. What if someone comes and finds you?"_

"_No human can defeat or control me. Only another Tailed demon can even pose a threat to me. You don't need to worry about my safety." Kyuubi replied._

"_Of course, master. I was foolish to be frightened. Where did you go anyway, master?" Toribida asked._

"_I merely went to visit the Hidden Leaf Village. It is interesting to see these new generations of Shinobi grow."_

"_You didn't let anyone see you, did you?"_

"_I went in disguise, as usual." The fox lay against the ground, folding its legs beneath it. It rested like a giant lion would. Toribida walked up to the Kyuubi and placed her hand against the red fur._

Naruto's eyes slowly slipped open. Outside, the sun was rising above the trees and birds took off from their perch into the morning sky. Naruto reached up with one hand and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

As he sat their, the blade of a kunai pressed against his throat. He froze, terrified for his life. "It took a while, but I finally got you." A voice said. "There is nothing you can do now."

Naruto recognized that voice. One of his own team mates. His eyes shifted in their sockets and he saw the face of his attacker. "Sai! What the hell are you doing?"

Sai smiled and pulled the kunai back. He slipped the weapon into his leg holster. "You still need to be more vigilant. If I truly wanted to kill you, you'd be dead. What if I had been an enemy? Then what would you have done?"

"Oh, shut up, Sai. What time is it?" Naruto asked.

"Time for us to meet with the proctors and instructors. It is the sixth day, and only one other squad made it here." Sai said.

"That's it? Last time I was here, seven squads passed this test. Who is this other squad?"

"Would you believe me if I said that it was Konahamaru's team that succeeded?"

"Really, good for him." Naruto said.

Sai and Naruto walked down stairs until they came to the main room at the bottom of the tower. Waiting for them was Suki, Kakashi, Sakura, Shino, Tsunade-sama, Shizune, and Ebisu.

"Ah, Naruto. Good of you to join us." Kakashi said.

"Hi, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto waved.

"Naruto, please take your place." Tsunade said. "We need to begin."

Naruto took his place at the front of his line, with Suki and Sai right behind him. IN an identical line next to him stood Konahamaru, Moegi, and Udon. Konahamaru looked over at Naruto and waved. "Hay, boss! You made it!"

Naruto smiled and gave a thumbs-up. "Congratulations, Konahamaru." Naruto said.

Suki looked over and grinned. _Those three don't know how close they came to getting destroyed during that last test._

"Can you please be quiet!" Tsunade shouted. Naruto and Konahamaru both stood at attention and closed their mouths. "Good. Now, first a congratulation is an order. So, well done every one. Now, I will introduce the proctor for the third exam."

A giant cloud of smoke exploded in front of Tsunade, as the smoke began to dissipate a figure could be seen. Once the smoke fully disappeared, a young man in green spandex with a black bowl haircut and extremely bushy eyebrows stood in the mitts of it. "Greeting, everyone! I am Rock Lee, your proctor for the third exam."

"HEY! Bushy Brows!" Naruto's hand shot up into the air and he started waving his arm back and forth in an overly exaggerated manner.

"HI, NARUTO!" Lee screamed. He ran up to the spiky blond haired kid and wrapped his arms around him, almost crushing Naruto's bones.

"Gaack." Naruto coughed.

Suki's eyes squinted and a giant sweat drop slid down the side of her face. _Is everyone trying to kill his kid?_

Lee dropped Naruto back to the ground and smiled. "I have not seen you in such a long time. If I had the time I would stay and talk but I have to do my job and instruct the third phase of the exams." Lee did a super jump and back flip through the air before landing a few feet away in a cool Lee-like manner. "I am going to be your proctor for the third stage of the Chunin exams."

Tsunade held a white box in her hands. She held it out to Lee. "Lee, you need this." She said.

"Thank you, Tsunade-sama." Lee said. He then turned back to the examines. "You will each reach into this box and take one piece of paper. This paper will determine everything about the exam. I will come to you so you may do so."

Lee stepped forward and held the box out to everyone. One by one, everyone took a single slip of paper. As soon as that was done, Lee stepped back and gave the box back to Tsunade-sama. "All right. Now, will everyone tell me the numbers on their paper?"

"Number three." Naruto said.

"Two." Suki.

"Six." Sai.

"Four." Konahamaru.

"One." Moegi.

"Five." Udon.

As they spoke, Sakura wrote down their names on another sheet of paper. "Very well." Rock Lee said. "Now we will show you the line up for the final exam. Sakura, if you will?"

Sakura held up the clipboard with the sheet of paper to the contestants. On the paper was a tournament line up with all their names in place. Naruto scanned over the paper and instantly saw where he was and who is opponent was; Konahamaru.

Naruto looked over at Konahamaru, who looked back at him. Konahamaru just smiled and placed his hands on his hips. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Naruto just smiled and gave a thumbs up. When Naruto looked back he found it rather ironic how everyone on his squad was fighting everyone on Konahamaru's. "Very well." Lee continued. "The final exam will take place in the main stadium in one week. The battles will be as follows: Moegi vs. Suki, then Naruto vs. Konahamaru, and finally Udon vs. Sai. Use this next week wisely and train with the power of youth!" Lee shouted and gave a huge thumbs up. His tooth also sparkled in the light. "You are all dismissed."


	11. The Calm Before the Storm

-1**Calm Before the Storm**

Naruto walked slowly home from the 44th battle training zone, the streets were alive and busy with activity. Naruto, however, felt half dead. Large purple rings hung under his eyes. He raised one hand up to his eyes and rubbed, yawning at the same time.

"Okay," Naruto said, "My first match is against Konohamaru. As much as I like Konohamaru, I don't think I'll have much of a problem with him. My real problem will come after him."

A deep voice spoke up behind him. "You're Naruto Uzumaki, aren't you?"

Naruto spun around and found himself face to face with a very large man. Actually, a rather fat man. His eyes seemed to be closed and he had a Leaf headband tied around his forehead.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked.

"Me? My name is Unisha Kenodo. But that is not important. You want to be ready for the Chunin finals, don't you?"

"Well duh. What does it matter to you?"

"Well, I was just thinking, I know this really powerful jutsu and I have no one to teach it to. Do you happen to know any one who would want to learn a great new jutsu?"

Naruto's eyes instantly lit up and a big smile came across his face. "How about me? I'd love t learn this new technique?"

"You? Hm." Unisha scratched his chin in thought. "Well, I don't know. You seem too dim witted to master a jutsu of this magnitude. But if you insist, I guess I'll have to teach it to you."

"Yes! When do we start?"

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?! Why not now?" Naruto protested.

"Now is not the time. We will start tomorrow at the same training ground where you became a genin. That is the earliest we can start."

"Fine." Naruto crossed his arms in discontent.

"Be there by 5:30 am, don't worry, I won't be late like Kakashi. And don't be so upset, this technique will be well worth the wait." Suddenly, Unisha disappeared. Just disappeared, no flash of smoke, no blur, just vanished.

"Huh? Now how did that happen?" Naruto thought.

Madara stood by the window of her hotel room. Her transformation had been temporarily deactivated. "I'm so glad I don't have to keep that look up forever. I think that my best chance will be during the finals, then I can make it look like a simple mistake."

As she said this, a messenger hawk landed on her window seal. A small letter attached to its leg. She took the letter from its leg and opened it. The symbol of the Uchiha Clan was placed at the very top.

_Dear Madara, _The letter read, _This is Sasuke. I've decided to take you up on your offer. I want to kill Itachi, and if you will help me, then very well. It would be most satisfying to have another Uchiha with me to avenge our clan._

_And more than that, I have severed my connection with the Hidden Sound. Orochimaru is dead. I killed him and integrated some of his powers into my body to make me more powerful. And now, I have assembled a new squad to help me track down Akatsuki. Hurry up with your mission and kill Naruto so you can catch up with us._

_Signed, Sasuke Uchiha._

Madara smiled and folded the paper back up. "So, Orochimaru is dead. This is getting very interesting. Well, now Naruto presents no threat to Orochimaru, but he could still be a great danger to Sasuke."

The next morning, Naruto awoke bright and early. He got to the training field at about 5:35 am, finding Unisha leaning against a tree. "You're late. 5 minutes late."

"Well, at least you're on time. Can we start the training now?"

Suddenly, Unisha disappeared again. His voice cam from behind Naruto, "If you insist, then we will start."

"Wait a minute, how did you do that? I didn't see anything, how did you get behind me so fast?"

"That is the jutsu that I want to teach you, a special teleportation jutsu that allows you to go almost anywhere." Unisha said.

"That's all? A Teleportation jutsu? I was expecting something a little better than that." Naruto complained.

"Oh, it's better than you think. It was this jutsu that almost single handed allowed Konoha to win the last Great Ninja War. Without it, then the Leaf village would not exist."

"Oh, yeah right. Sounds to me like you're just trying to make something stupid sound better."

"Would you think the same thing if I told you the name of this jutsu? It is called the Flying Thunder God."

Naruto stopped dead in his tracks. He'd heard that name before, a jutsu created and known only to the greatest hero of Konoha. "The Flying Thunder God? As in the jutsu used by the 4th Hokage?"

"And the reason he got the name 'Yellow Flash of Konoha'. He taught me the jutsu so that I could teach you. Now are you prepared?" Unisha asked.

"You bet! Let's get started!" Naruto shouted.

Tsunade stood by the window of the Hokage's office when Shizune entered the room, carrying Tonton in her arms. "Lady Tsunade, what are you doing?"

"Watching the sunrise. Today is a good day to watch sunrise. Have you heard back from the council about Naruto's promotion?" Tsunade asked.

"Not yet. They are still deliberating." Shizune said.

"Strange that it should take so long for them to deliberate. I've gotten news from Jiraiya. He says that he's discovered the location of the Akatsuki's leader. He's coming her to deliver the news."

"Akatsuki's Leader? That is some big news. Why doesn't he just send a messenger to tell us? He should go there and confront the Leader without hesitation." Shizune said.

"The information is too valuable for him to send by messenger. It would be best that he delivers it in person." Tsunade sat down at her desk and pulled out a book. "I recently got my hands o one of Jiraiya's books."

"Oh, I can't believe your reading that!" Shizune shouted.

"Not one of those books. This book is the story of a great Shinobi who battles to become the greatest he can and to never give in to any challenge."

"Wow, that sounds familiar." Shizune said.

"Would you believe, the main character's name is 'Naruto'? This is the book that Jiraiya wrote, that Minato and Kushina read, that they used as the name for their son."

"So, you're saying that it was Jiraiya who came up with Naruto's name?" Shizune asked.

"Exactly. I guess, life really does imitate art."


	12. Training

**Training**

"Now," Unisha explained, "This jutsu isn't like a typical transportation jutsu. It's more along the lines of a summoning jutsu."

"A summoning?" Naruto asked.

"Except that instead of summoning an animal or a weapon, you're summoning yourself. That is the tough part." Unisha explained. "Now, I believe you've had experience with summoning from Jiraiya-sensei. Do you remember how it works?"

"Well," Naruto reached up and scratched his head. His eyes closed and his lower lip stuck out. "If I remember it had something to do with the amount of Chakra you use."

Unisha smacked his hand against his forehead. Already he could tell this kid was going to be a handful. He honestly didn't know how Kakashi or Jiraiya could stand this kid. "You got the basic concept. You need a Chakra amount proportional to whatever it is you're summoning. So to summon Gamma Bunta takes much more chakra than summoning Gamma Kichi. Understand?"

"Kind of."

"We'll work with that. Anyway, summoning anything requires a blood contract." Unisha pulled a small scroll from his pocket. Written on the scroll in kanji it read 'Contact with Oneself.' He unrolled it and placed it on the ground. Only two names were written on it. The first name, Minato Namikaze. The second, Unisha Kenodo.

"Hm, exactly what was your connection to the 4th?" Naruto asked.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Well. Why would he decide to teach you a jutsu like this? He must've known you rather well."

Unisha smiled. "You're smarter than you look. Yes, he was a good friend of mine. He was my team mate under Jiraiya-sensei."

"HUH!!!?" Naruto shouted. "A FAT IDIOT LIKE YOU WAS ON THE SAME SQUAD AS THE FOURTH!!? THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"

For that comment, Naruto received a whack to the back of the head. A particularly hard smack, hard enough to send Naruto falling flat on his face. "Shut up and sign your name on the contract." Unisha said.

"Hey! That hurt!" Naruto shouted.

"It was supposed to hurt." Unisha said.

Naruto grumbled as he bit down on his thumb and scribbled his name on the scroll. All the while thinking about how this was all strangely familiar, as if he'd done this before. Once he finished, he rolled up the scroll and tossed it back to Unisha. "Now what?"

Unisha pulled a kunai out of the holster on his leg. "Now we start training. Here." He threw the kunai and it embedded itself into the ground at Naruto's feet. "You'll notice this is no ordinary kunai. It has a special seal on the blade."

Naruto pulled the kunai from the ground and held it in front of his eyes. Indeed, there was a seal on the blade. "What's that for?"

"I'm getting to that. Every time you use a summoning jutsu a seal appears on the ground, right?"

"Yeah."

"That seal is what does the summoning, in accordance with the chakra. But, for this jutsu you can't create the seal at the place you wish to go because you are not there. And going there would negate the reason of using the jutsu." Unisha said.

"Huh?"

"I'll try again. You need a seal to summon, but if you try to create the seal where you are you'll only summon yourself at he place you already are. That's why you have the kunai."

"I repeat. Huh?"

Unisha sighed and rubbed his fingers against his temples. Damn this kid, he's an idiot. Of coarse, when the Fourth tried to explain it to him, Unisha didn't exactly catch on quickly either. "Perhaps a demonstration is an order." He pulled three more kunai from his holster. "Watch these carefully." He threw the kunai in three different directions.

The first embedded itself into a tree just above a thick branch. The second struck against a bolder and landed with a small thud against the ground. The third hit the ground right next to the stream.

"Okay, now. Look over at that tree." Unisha pointed up to the first kunai. Naruto turned. Up in the tree was Unisha.

"What?"

"Now at the rock." Naruto did as told and saw that Unisha was standing next to the rock. "At the stream." Again, Unisha was by the stream. "Now, look over that way." He pointed in a direction where no kunai had landed.

Naruto looked, expecting to see Unisha again. But this time, the fat guy was not there. "Hey, what gives?"

"I can't teleport over there. I never threw a kunai in that direction."

"Does the kunai let you teleport?"

"Not the kunai itself," Unisha said, "the seal on the blade. It is a summoning seal infused with my Chakra. When I release the Chakra I activate the seal and summon myself in the place the kunai landed. Understand yet?"

"I think so." Naruto said.

"Okay then. Time to start." Unisha said. "Take that kunai I gave you and focus all your energy on it."

………………………………

_Three Days Later………_

Naruto, along with five clones each stood in the training grounds with a sealed kunai. They had made little progress in learning the jutsu. Despite how hard they focused, they couldn't seem to fuse their chakra with the seal. Unisha was sitting in a tree watching the six Narutos train.

"It shouldn't be this hard. He should've at least learned how to put his chakra to the seal by now. There's only four more days until the chunin finals." Unisha said.

Naruto threw the kunai in frustration. It smashed into the tree right next to Unisha's head. "Kuso!" Naruto shouted. "It's not working!" He looked around and saw how angry the rest of his clones were. "Hey, wait a minute. I have an idea."

"Would that be a first?" Unisha asked.

"Okay, all of me, listen up." Naruto said. "Instead of trying to concentrate on six different kunai, how about we all focus on one kunai?"

"Hm, that's rather obvious, but ingenious at the same time. With six concentrating on one, he can get six times the chakra input." Unisha said.

"Okay, lets try it." The six Naruto grabbed hold of one single kunai as best they could and concentrated. Chakra ran down their arms and to the metal blade. The chakra all converged on the seal and steadily, the seal began to absorb the energy given it. After about five minutes of continuous chakra concentration, the six Narutos stopped gasping for breath. "Okay, that should be enough."

Naruto took the kunai and threw it to the other side of the stream. It hit the ground and stuck. Naruto placed his hands together and stuck his front two fingers of both hands strait up. "Kai!" Suddenly, Naruto found himself standing on the far side of the stream looking back at his five other clones. He hadn't felt anything different, if he didn't know better he would've thought that nothing had changed. But he truth was that the clones were all standing on the same side of the river and he was now on the other side standing right over the kunai knife.

"Yahoo!" He shouted. "I did it! I've mastered the jutsu!" The other five clones disappeared in a cloud of smoke and Naruto suddenly collapsed.

"The fatigue of six Narutos all combined into one will do that." Unisha said. "But no, you haven't mastered it. You've only taken the first step. Doing one summoning can be rough, but you may need to do several in quick succession of themselves."

Naruto's mind drifted away into dream.

_A swipe of one of the fox's tails smashed into the forest below. A rumbling growl echoed in its throat. The ninja following it was still around._

_The ninja appeared again, leaping above the tree line. The fox could see her long black hair and her red eyes. The shinobe placed her hands together in quick succession. "Katon! Dragon Flame Bomb!" An enormous ball of fire flew from her mouth and toward the fox demon. Despite the strength of the jutsu, the fox felt nothing more than a tiny burn against its fur._

_The kunoichi landed softly on a tree right in front of the nine tailed demon. She showed no fear of the giant creature. Her red eyes scanned easily over the beast. "You're an Uchiha, I can see your Sharingan. What are you doing in my territory?"_

"_You're hiding an entire clan out here, demon. And I've noticed that a certain Minato Namikaze has been out here several times. Why would that be?"_

"_No concern of yours!" The fox smashed its foot down on the tree the ninja was standing on, its claws digging deep into the earth. However, the Uchiha had seen this coming and dodged it easily._

"_Could it be that the Fourth has been having FUN out here. With one named Kushina?" The ninja smiled._

"_RrrrrAAAAAWWWWW!" Kyuubi roared and snapped its jaws at the airborne ninja. Still, the ninja dodged._

"_I assume I guessed right." She said. The kunoichi jumped and landed right on the fox's face next to the eye. She placed her hands together forming and signs and then placed both hands against the fox's head. Her Sharingan stared right into the fox's eyes and started spinning. "Secret Jutsu! Bijuu manipulation!"_

_Kyuubi felt the effects of the jutsu begin to take hold. Already, it could feel itself growing weaker, its conscious mind fading away. "NO! I cannot be controlled by a mere human!"_

"_My name is Madara Uchiha II, descended directly from Madara Uchiha who founded the clan and fought the first Hokage. His power is my power. You serve me."_

"_I serve no human! Much less an Uchiha!"_

"_My name is Madara Uchiha II," ……… she repeated the line again and again, each time the fox grew weaker and weaker, more easily manipulated._

"_I am at your command, Master Madara." Kyuubi finally fell to the Kunoichi's demands._

"_As I knew you were."_


	13. The Night IT Happened

**The Night **_**IT **_**Happened**

Naruto's dream.

_The fox demon charged through the forest as fast as its legs could carry it. On top of its head, Madara Uchiha crouched holding onto the creatures fur for support. The full moon shined down on the world, casting the entire forest in a misty deceiving silver light. Kyuubi's claws tore deep gouges into the ground with each stride. Ahead was what appeared to be a small village, its inhabitance all fast asleep. Any passerby might've mistaken this to be Konoha, but they would've been mistaken. This was a village even better hidden than any of the Hidden Villages. This was the location of a hidden clan that lived under the uttermost protection of Kyuubi._

_The Kyuubi jumped high into the air and came crashing to the earth in a tremendous thud. The ground shook as if from an earthquake, trees swayed and even the mountains felt the force of impact. Slowly, the villagers crept out of their dwellings. They saw the form of their mighty guardian, the legendary Nine-Tailed Fox. "My Master Kyuubi, what are thy doing at this time of night?" A voice called up. "And who does thou allow to ride upon thy head?"_

"_Do not answer." Madara said, placing her hand down on Kyuubi's head. She spoke in a calm and indifferent voice. "They are your hated enemies, and must be destroyed. That is the will of my master and yours. Kill them."_

_Kyuubi lifted its left forelimb and smashed it down on one of the nearby buildings, reducing it to ruble in an instant. It pulled its head back and roared. Roared so loud that the earth literally shuddered. Without hesitation, the fox stormed into the settlement. Its teeth gnashed together as they closed over dozens of villagers, its claws tore the houses and buildings apart. The tails lashed out sporadically, smashing everything within reach._

"_Master! Why does thou do this? What have we done to displease you?!" The same villager called._

"_Die." Kyuubi replied. "Die. Die." Kyuubi snapped its jaws around the villager, killing him without remorse. A stream of fire shot from the top of the fox's head, setting the ruble remains of the settlement aflame. The red and orange flames leapt up toward the stars, smoke filling the cold night air. Madara grinned, looking down from the fox's head at the devastation. The glow from the fire lit the land in a terrible orange aura._

"_You have done well, my pet." Madara said, stroking Kyuubi's fur. "My master will be much pleased with us." She looked up and surveyed the burning and ruined village. Amazed at how quickly it had been destroyed. Obviously none of the clan would dare to try attacking the Kyuubi no Kitsune, and not simply because of its power. None would've fought back because of the great respect and devotion they felt toward their guardian. Their master and protector. The Great Fox that legend said had created, sired this clan as its own offspring and had served them like they were its own kids. A great many of the clan members had even knelt in submission to the Kitsune when it killed them._

_Madara was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she almost missed seeing the a single figure racing from the burning village and into the forest. A woman by the looks of it, in a white kimono with her black hair tied up in a bun, carrying something in her arms. Something wrapped tightly in a blanket._

"_A survivor." Madara said. "Kyuubi, after her."_

_The fox roared in response and leapt into the air. Upon landing, it raced after the woman. Its claws tore into the ground and trees toppled over in the dozens. All the while, trying to keep and eye on the one human on the run. The girl ran with considerable speed, in fact it almost seemed that she disappeared for a while and then reappeared almost 100 yards ahead of where she used to be. Finally, the fox pounced on the woman and crushed her between her jaws. The sound of splintering bones were heard. The crunching and grinding of human flesh reached even Madara._

_But the taste was not that of human. In fact, it tasted more like tree sap. The fox spat the body out and watched it fall to the ground. It wasn't human at all, merely a log put in its place. A substitution jutsu. The girl had switched her body with this to confuse the predator. She'd even been able to apply her scent to confuse the creature more._

_Crafty young female._

_Kyuubi flared its nostrils, easily detecting the smell of its pray. The girl was close. Very close. Kyuubi jolted away in the direction of the scent. Below, moving through the trees Kyuubi could see a white figure like a ghost. The figure ran into a clearing in the forest and Kyuubi saw that it was the woman. She stopped at the far end of the clearing and turned. Her eyes starred back at the fox with deep hatred. A hate and anger that seemed to radiate off her so that even Madara could feel it._

"_Why, my master? Why did you do it? They were all your children!" She shouted._

"_As you can see," Madara replied, "the Kyuubi doesn't do anything without my consent anymore. I'm afraid it just doesn't see your question fit to answer."_

"_Who are you?"_

"_Madara Uchiha II, named after the first Madara who founded the Uchiha Clan and help found the Hidden Leaf Village. The same Madara that fought the First Hokage at the Valley of the End." Madara answered._

"_Well then, Madara, let me show you a jutsu created by the **Fourth **Hokage, A jutsu he taught Kushina who then taught me." The woman held out one hand to her side. Instantly, blue Chakra began to form into a sphere. "My master, Kyuubi, please remember me after I die. My name, Toribida Uzumaki."_

"_What are you going to do? Attack your own guardian? I thought you had more loyalty than that." Madara jeered._

"_If Kyuubi really is just your puppet, then to free the puppet I must destroy the puppet master." Toribida sprinted towards the fox, even facing down a 100 meter tall crimson red beast with a near limitless Chakra level, she felt no fear. Already, she knew she was going to die. Her hope was that in her death, perhaps she could free Kyuubi from Madara's control. When she got close enough, Toribida focused her chakra into her feet and pushed herself away from the earth. Flying up into the air, she came closer and closer to Madara._

_When she came within reach, she thrust her arm forward aiming the blue sphere of Chakra at her target. "Rasengan!" She shouted. Madara pulled a kunai from her holster and tried to block with it, but the instant the blade came in contact with the blue sphere the kunai disintegrated._

_Madara struck her leg out with deadly strength, kicking Toribida in the stomach. Toribida collapsed, falling on top of the Fox' s head. The Rasengan dissipating. Madara grabbed her by the front of her kimono and pulled her face to face. "Now, tell me. You were carrying Kushina's child before, weren't you?"_

"_I won't tell." Toribida replied, a small trace of blood dripped down the side of her mouth. That kick to the stomach had been Chakra enhanced. She knew that giving away any information now would be useless, death was assured._

"_I'll take that as a 'yes'. So if you had the child before, and you don't have him now, what did you do with him?"_

_Toribida coughed, blood flew from her mouth and splattered across the Kyuubi's fur. "Fine. I knew his mother would be unable to save him. So, the child is with his………" she could speak no more. Her breathing ceased, her eyes rolled back into her head and closed. Death._

_Madara tossed Toribida's body off to the side, watching it fall all the way back to the ground and crash in a heap. "Well then, I believe it is time for us to go in search of this child, don't you think so, Kyuubi?"_

_The Kyuubi didn't answer. It's eyes were transfixed on the body of Toribida. Just laying there, motionless, when only moments before she had been so full of life and defiance, trying to protect Kushina's son and even defending her guardian when it could no longer defend them. A growl formed in the Kyuubi's throat. Starting as a low rumble and steadily escalating into a small earthquake from where Madara stood._

"_Kitsune, what are you doing?" Madara asked._

"_RrrrrrRRRRAAAAAWWWWLLLLL!!!!" The Kyuubi roared and violently shook its head from side to side, sending Madara falling to the earth. While falling, Madara flipped in the air and landed softly on her feet. "You made me kill my clan, you accursed Uchiha. For this, You will die!" The Fox snapped its jaws at Madara, catching a mouthful of trees and dirt instead. Madara was gone. She had escaped long ago, leaving the Fox to mourn._

Naruto steadily shifted in his bed, his eyes sliding open. The sunlight shined brightly through his bedroom window It must've been at least 10:00 AM by now. Slowly, he pushed his blankets away and got to his feet. He stretched his arms out and yawned, making hi way to the kitchen. He was practically moving on autopilot, because his mind was still fixated on the dream.

That name, Toribida, he thought he had heard it somewhere before. And not in a dream. It had been recently, not much more than a week or two ago that he first heard it. Of that, he was sure. But where? The answer hit him and he suddenly remembered; Suki. She always gave her surname as Toribida. And what about the Toribida in his dream? She gave her surname as Uzumaki, the same as his. If, as the Fox had said, these dreams are all some of his memories then that would mean that more people out there had the Uzumaki name.

A family.

The idea hit Naruto like a ton of bricks. Others with his surname, not just one or two, but a whole clan. Somewhere.

Maybe, Obaa-san Tsunade knew something about this. Maybe even Kakashi-sensei and that pervert Jiraiya. "Hey," he thought out loud, "what about that fat guy, Unisha! I'll bet he knows something."


	14. Questions

**Questions**

Naruto walked with a steady pace down the hallway to the Hokage's office. His hands tucked firmly in his pockets. As it was, she would probably know something or other about some of the people in his dream, if , in fact as the Fox had said, they were memories and not just random thoughts. He pushed the door open and found Lady Tsunade seated behind her desk, with a pile of paper work and other books and folders on it.

She looked up momentarily to see Naruto walk in, before returning to her work. "Yes, Naruto, what do you need?"

"Tsunade obaa-chan, can I ask you something?" Naruto asked.

"Can you please stop calling me that? And you did just ask me something. What is your question?" He face never lifted from the paperwork. After all, the Chunin Exams were almost over and the Kazekage was coming to the village. This always prompted more work for her than usual.

"Well, I want to know if you know someone. Does the name 'Toribida' ring a bell?"

"I can't say it does. Why do you ask?"

"I've been hearing that name in my dreams for a while, and I thought that since you're so old, you might have met someone with that name." Naruto replied. He ducked with ninja speed to dodge the book being thrown at him with. Because of the super-human strength put into the throw, the book left a crater in the wall behind him. "That would've hurt."

"Keep up the insults and next time I won't miss." Tsunade replied.

"Well, how about the name 'Madara Uchiha'?"

"Is that another joke at my age? I'm not **that** old. Madara was there at the founding of the village, almost 100 years ago. He later defected and was defeated by the first Hokage. Everyone knows that story."

"Not that Madara. Madara Uchiha II."

"I didn't know there was a Madara II. If all this is happening in your dreams, then I wouldn't put to much faith in them." Tsunade's pencil continued to scribble across the paper.

Naruto sighed, his shoulders slumping. None of this had been any of the answers he was looking for. "Thanks anyway." He turned and started for the door. As he grabbed the knob and pulled the door open, he stopped. "Wait," he said, "what about the name, 'Kushina'?"

Naruto heard a loud snap. Tsunade's pencil had been broken in two. A look of shock and almost horror came across her face, luckily hidden from Naruto's view. "What did you say?"

"Kushina." Naruto replied. "Does that sound familiar?"

"I just remembered, you really need to go out and start training. After all, the finals are tomorrow."

"Tomorrow!? AHH! I don't have time for this! Thanks, Tsunade baa-chan!" Naruto raced out the door, slamming it behind him.

Tsunade slumped back down in her chain, a sigh of relief slipping past her lips. That was a close one. She pressed her fingers against her forehead as if her had a headache. How in hell had Naruto heard the name of Kushina? That was supposed to be kept secret from him. Damn it all. Well, for the time being, his attention would be occupied by the up coming Chunin finals. This would need some looking into.

………………………………...

Naruto raced back to his apartment, barged in and rummaged through his room. He needed his ninja tools. With less than a days worth of training to do, he really needed to crack down. Where had he put his kunai and shuriken? And what ever happened to that fat guy, Unisha?

He looked up at the windowsill and saw six kunai stuck in the wood. But these weren't normal kunai, they were the ones that allowed for transportation. He could see the seal engraved on the blades. Also tacked to the windowsill was a note. He grabbed the note and read it over.

"Dear, Naruto

Sorry I couldn't complete your training, but these will come in handy in most, if not all, your upcoming battles. Fill them up with Chakra now, so that you aren't to tired to use them during the finals. Use them wisely.

Signed, Unisha."

Naruto set the paper aside and grabbed one of the kunai. This, that he held in his hand, was once in the hands of the greatest Hokage, and the greatest ninja, of all time. These kunai used to belong to the Fourth Hokage. He could feel his heart rate speed up. Somehow, it almost felt like he had been given some kind of heirloom. A trophy passed down from one great ninja to another.

Fill them with chakra now. That's what the note said. But it took such an amount of Chakra to fill just one kunai, and before him he had six. How could he possibly fill all of them. But then again, Unisha and the Fourth were both able to seal more than twice this many and use them effectively, and he had a Chakra level much higher than virtually any other Shinobi he'd heard of, even without the Kyuubi's help.

He placed both his hands on the hilt of the kunai and focused. Steadily, he could feel his Chakra being absorbed by the seal. But after just a few seconds, he felt its effects. The kunai wasn't even half full, and already his Chakra felt drained. Sweat drops peaked on his forehead. He gasped, losing his concentration. The Chakra that he already placed into the seal, luckily, remained. "Damn. Why is this so hard?"

"Isn't that why you have me, kid?" The Fox's voice said in his head. A steady stream of red Chakra ran down Naruto's arm and poured into the seal. Almost instantly, the seal was full to bursting.

"Wow, that was fast. Now only five more to go." Naruto said.

………………………………...

"What?! Naruto actually knows the name Kushina!?" Shizune shouted. She pulled Tonton even tighter against her body, causing the pig to squeak in discomfort.

"How do you know?" Kakashi asked.

"He came by and asked me, himself, if I knew anyone with that name." Tsunade answered. She ha summoned both Kakashi and Shizune to her office. This was an important matter.

"He doesn't know the importance behind that name, does he?" Shizune asked.

"Well, if he knew that, he wouldn't have asked who she was." Kakashi pointed out. "But, I want to know if we really should keep this a secret from him any longer. I mean, it's not just some random fact. She is very important to him. I think we should tell him the truth."

"We can't let our emotions get the better of us, Kakashi. Think of what something like this will do to him. Besides that, it was the Third Hokage who decreed that not a word regarding the event should be uttered. And telling Naruto about her would break that decree." Tsunade replied.

"He's long known about the demon. And besides, I think he's mature enough to handle the truth regarding Kushina, and Minato for that matter." Kakashi said.

"But what will his reaction be? Once he learns that we kept this secret from him for 16 years, will he still regard this village as surely as he did before?" Tsunade said.

"Lady Tsunade, aren't you turning this into almost a political point of view?" Shizune out spoke. "He deserves to know the truth about himself."

"But what could it do to him emotionally?" Tsunade asked. "It could cause damage that we can't even for see. I say, for now, we keep the secret from him for a little longer."

"You know, he will probably discover on his own." Kakashi said. "And when he does, he'll come running up to us scream: 'Why didn't you tell me? How could you!?'"

"If he does, then we'll tell him the truth from start to finish." Tsunade replied.


	15. Chunin Finals: Suki vs Moegi

\/p>

-1**Chunin Finals: Suki vs. Moegi**

Naruto found himself standing down in the great colosseum of Konoha. Above him, the stands were full to bursting with spectators, all of whom had gathered to watch the finals for the Chunin exams. To his right and left stood Suki, Sai, Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi. The others who had passed the last two exams. As Naruto looked up into the stands, he wondered if Sakura had come to watch him and Sai. He knew that the chances of her coming where great, but Tsunade might've sent her off on some last minute assignment.

Luckily for Naruto, she had come. She was seated in the stands, looking down on him. With her were many of the others from their class. Kiba, Shino, Hinata, Ino, Choji, Shikamaru, Neji, and Tenten had all come. Somewhere up here was Kakashi, but Sakura didn't know where exactly. "So, once again Naruto has made it to the finales." Neji said.

"You should be proud of him, Neji." Tenten remarked. "After all, last time he was here, he managed to beat you. Your reputation's on the line."

"That's not the reason I came here." Neji snapped.

"Not the main reason, any way." Tenten smiled.

"Come on, it's because Naruto's our friend and what kind of friends would we be if we didn't come to watch the last of us advance?" Shino said.

"There you go, talking in your completely weird way like you always do." Kiba remarked.

"But he does have a point." Shikamaru groaned.

Choji pulled a bag of chips from his backpack and pulled it open. "I just want to see how it turns out." He said, stuffing two chips in his mouth at a time.

"Do you ever go anywhere without chips?" Ino asked.

"The Korean BBQ."

"That doesn't count."

"Ssshhh." Sakura said. "It's about to start."

………………………………...

Up in the highest stand, Lady Tsunade sat in the Hokage's chair. To her left stood Shizune holding Tonton in her arms. To her right stood Kakashi, his hands held behind his back. "Is Lord Kazekage arrived yet?" Tsunade asked.

"You don't have to wait any longer." A voice said. The three looked in the direction of the voice and saw a young man, no more than 15 with deep red hair. He was dressed in a black zip up shirt and pants with a strap going across his chest holding the gourd on his back in place. His eyes had deep black rings around them, and the kanji for "love" embedded on his forehead. Gaara of the desert. Accompanying his where his two favored advisers and body guards, Kankuro and Temari.

"Welcome, Lord Kazekage." Tsunade addressed.

"Hello to you too, Lady Hokage. I trust you didn't begin the fun without me." Gaara responded, seating himself in the Kazekage seat. He rested his gourd on the floor next to him, never taking his hand off it.

"You do know that you didn't need to come this time. After all, there are no participants from Suna left." Tsunade said.

"I came because I choose to. That is all there is to it." Gaara replied. "In any case, I heard about your proposal, about Naruto's promotion. If it were to go through, he would need to be restricted to a degree, for a time."

"I understand, but we really should get things started." Tsunade lifted herself from the chair and approached the balcony. "Welcome all, to this years Chunin selection exam!" She called out. "If you would, remain seated until all the matches have concluded! Let the exam begin!"

Down in the tournament grounds, Rock Lee, proctor for the final exam, nodded. He turned around to the participants. "All right then. Please listen. The only rules for this exam is that it concludes when either you admit defeat, I choose to end the match, or one of you is killed. You may use any weapons you chose, or any jutsu you see fit for the situation. So without further ado, would the first two combatants, Moegi and Suki, step forward."

From the two ends of the line, Suki and Moegi stepped up and faced each other. "Now, will the rest of you please go to the observational platform." Lee motioned to the opening in the side of the stadium walls. The other four contestants made their way up to the platform. Once there, Lee stuck one leg out behind him and held his hand out above Suki and Moegi. Bringing it down with a quick swipe, he shouted, "BEGIN!"

Suki/Madara wasted no time. She moved with lightning speed and got herself behind Moegi, holding the blade of a kunai against her much younger opponent's throat. The crowd gasped. Suki had moved with a speed comparable to Lee's over that short distance. "This is as good as over." Suki said. "There is no way a mere genin like you can match me."

Moegi slowly raised her hands, moving her right hand passed her weapons pouch on her hip. "I guess you have me out done." As her hands got about to the same level as her head she opened them and three small purple balls fell from her right hand. They hit the ground and exploded in an huge cloud of purple smoke. Enough smoke to obscure both Moegi and Suki.

Moegi came running from the cloud, again putting distance between her and Suki. "YEAH! Go Moegi! Show them what your made of!" Konohamaru shouted.

As the smoke cleared, Suki stood in the undeterred. "Is that the best you can do?"

"Come on, Moegi! Use that special jutsu you've been working on!" Konohamaru yelled.

"I'm getting there, Konohamaru! Just wait and see." Moegi pulled a kunai from her holster and held it out in defense

Suki just smiled and pulled a pair of sunglasses from one of her side pouches. As she placed the glasses on, her eyes changed to red as she activated her Sharingan. _Can't let anyone see my eyes. Not with this many Jonin level ninja around. _She also held up her kunai in a defensive position. "I'm waiting to see what you've got."

"Fine." Moegi charged at Suki, holding her kunai back so as to use it to stab. With her Sharingan, Madara easily dodged Moegi's attack, countering by slamming her knee in the genin's stomach. She lifted her kunai up and stabbed it down, embedding it deep in Moegi's back.

"NO!" Konohamaru shouted. "MOEGI!"

"MOEGI!" Udon screamed.

Suki yanked out her kunai and dropped the body on the ground. She turned and faced the trees by the wall. "I know you're over there. Did you think I couldn't tell this was a substitution from the start?" A cloud of smoke puffed around the fake Moegi's body and once it cleared, only a tree log with a kunai stuck in it remained.

"Kuso!" Moegi, hiding in the trees, cursed under her breath. She had managed to switch her self with that log during the first smoke bomb so she could hide, but that wasn't good enough. She sighed and placed her hands together, forming hand signs. She hoped that she wouldn't have to use such a jutsu so early, but it was unavoidable. Her chakra converged to the points in her fingertips and she ran her hands through her hair. As her hands passed through her hair, loose hairs caught in her fingers and she pulled them out. Her chakra flowed into her stray hairs and stiffened them into long thin needles.

Madara continued to scan the arena, her Sharingan hidden safely behind her sunglasses searched for the slightest movement. A snapping or twigs caught her attention and she turned in the direction of the sound. Moegi came running out from the bushes, holding her arms across her chest like she was holding some kind of weapon. But from what Madara could see, Moegi was unarmed.

"Ninja art! Hair Senbon!" Moegi flung her arms in an arch, opening her hands at the same time. Less than a second later, Madara felt sharp pinpricks all up and down her right side.

"Aaagghh!" She groaned. Looking down at herself, she saw very thin and tiny needles. She pulled one out and held it before her eyes. At that moment, it fell limp again. "A hair? She threw hairs at me?"

"Have you figured it out yet, Suki?" Moegi asked. "This is my special jutsu, the Hair Senbon. I channel my Chakra through loose hair strands and make them ridged, so I can throw them like regular Senbon needles. Because they come from my hair, I have an almost limitless supply."

_Not only that, _Madara thought, _but because they're so small my Sharingan almost can't see them. Just the regular chakra I use for the Sharingan won't be enough to see these coming toward me. _She grabbed the remaining hair needles stunk in her arm and yanked them out, letting them fall to the ground. In a flash, Suki raced at Moegi, pulling three shuriken from the holster on her leg and threw them at her opponent. Suki slipped her hands through her hair again and threw the hair Senbon to intercept the shuriken. The needles clanked off the shuriken, knocking them off coarse. They crashed into the ground at Moegi's feet.

Moegi held three more between her fingers in her right hand. She raced for Suki, and swung a right hook at Suki's head. Suki's Sharingan easily caught Moegi's movements. She blocked the genin's attack, catching Moegi's fist in the palm of her hand. The hair needles stabbed right through Suki's hand, all the way through.

Suddenly, the hairs twisted and curved into hooks, gripping into Suki's skin. "That's what else I can do, I can change the shape of the hairs to take any shape I choose. In this case, from needles to hooks." Moegi grinned. She let go and pulled her hand back, letting the hairs curl even more and dig deeper into Madara's hand.

Madara groaned, it hurt more than she thought it would. These hairs were pulling on her muscles and stabbing into her chakra network, disrupting the chakra flow to her hands. Moegi ran her hands through her hair one more time, pulling out even more loose hairs. Madara knew she had to do something, she would not let herself lose to a simple genin. She tried to form hand signs, but her right hand with the hooks embedded in it screamed with pain each time she tried to form signs. Besides that, it wasn't forming decent signs.

With a swing of her arm, Moegi threw the Hair Senbon. Madara leapt backwards. Focusing her Chakra to her feet she clung to the wall of the arena. Clinging to the wall with her chakra, she held her right hand before her and ripped the hooks from it with her left. Blood dripped from her hand as she did, but at least now she could form decent hand signs. Madara leapt down from the wall and began making hand signs, ending with a familiar Horse and Tiger combination.

Just as Moegi threw another three hair needles at Suki, Suki unleashed her own jutsu. "Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!" A ball of orange flames flew from Suki's mouth and out toward Moegi. The hairs that were flying at Suki instantly melted up and twisted in on themselves, but the fire ball kept coming. Moegi just managed to jump and roll out of the way of the blaze as it scorched the trees and bushes behind her.

Kakashi starred down from his spot at Tsunade's side. "That jutsu is clearly an Uchiha technique." He said.

"Not necessarily." Shizune responded. "This is the Land of Fire, plenty of Shinobi know fire style, including you."

"But not so many genin. Usually the only genin who know fire techniques would be an Uchiha." Kakashi replied.

Back on the battle field, Moegi watched in awe at the fire burned away the trees in the arena. "A little surprised?" Suki asked. "I found the weakness in your Jutsu. Fire. Since I can't see your attacks, I just have to know where it's coming from and I can destroy it with fire. The only real way to destroy hair." Moegi knelt on the ground, gasping for breath. "I guess that you're hair Jutsu used up more chakra than it appeared to. I'll finish this up now."

Suki sprinted with speed enough to rival a Jonin of Kakashi's level. In an instant, she was behind Moegi. Madara smacked her hand against Moegi's neck, rendering the girl unconscious. Once Moegi collapsed, Lee held his hand up in the air and shouted, "The victor is Suki!"

\/p> 


	16. Chunin Finals: Naruto vs Konohamaru

**Chunin Finals: Naruto vs. Konohamaru**

Several medic ninja ran into the battle ring and carried Moegi away on a stretcher. She had sustained no serious injury, but she would still need some medical attention. Suki, herself, returned to the waiting balcony. She flipped her hair back, acting as if defeating Moegi was no challenge. Which it wasn't. Madara had reached Jonin level long ago, defeating a first year, wet behind the ears Genin was easier than sleeping for her.

Lee turned and faced up into the crowd. "It is now time for us to begin with the second match! Naruto Uzumaki! Konohamaru Sarutobi! Will you both please make your way down?"

Naruto braced his foot against the handle bar and leapt from the balcony down to the battle ring. He landed in a knelling position before getting back to his feet. Konohamaru followed by example, throwing himself from the balcony and landing in a summersault before climbing back to his feet.

"I've been looking forward to this for a long time, Naruto!" Konohamaru shouted. "I'm not going to lose to you!"

"Okay, give it your best." Naruto responded.

Up in the Hokage and Kazekage stand, Gaara leaned forward slightly in his seat. He, also, was looking forward to this. It had been a while since he had seen Naruto in action. He starred with unwavering excitement.

"A little eager, aren't we? Lord Kazekage." Tsunade said.

"I guess seeing Naruto is the real reason why I'm here. A fellow host child." Gaara responded.

Lee held his arm up over his head as the two combatants stood waiting. With a quick motion, his arm swung down. "Begin!"

"Alright, Boss! I've been mastering this technique!" Konohamaru shouted, placing the first two fingers of each hand together to form a cross. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Five more Konohamaru's appeared in clouds of smoke. Totaling six.

"Ah, Konohamaru has mastered the Shadow Clone Jutsu." Kakashi said.

"Yeah, great. Now we have another Naruto running around." Tsunade said. "Another hyperactive idiot."

Each Konohamaru clone pulled out a kunai and charged at Naruto. As they drew close, three jumped into the air and stabbed with their kunai. Naruto crotched and then jumped up to meet the oncoming attacks. He struck out his fists and caught two of the clones instantly, hitting the third with his foot. They disappeared in clouds of smoke. Spinning in the air, he landed softly behind the other two clones. In a quick spin, he kicked out his leg and connected with their heads, causing them to also disappear. "Gomen, Konohamaru. But, I need to reserve my Chakra for this new Jutsu I've been learning. So I'm going to do anything I can to not use Shadow Clones."

"HUH?" Most of Naruto's fellow Konoha 11 exclaimed.

"Naruto not using Shadow Clones!? Since when did that happen?!" Sakura shouted. "His whole fighting style is based on his clones."

"Hm." Shikamaru thought. "He said he has some new jutsu he's wanting to try out. With his Chakra supply it would normally not matter whether or not he uses clones, but if this technique uses so much Chakra that even he must be stingy with how he uses it, then it must be something worth noting. But, I doubt he'd us it against Konohamaru. So he's just going to torture us with anticipation until he does. How troublesome."

"You spent that whole time just to say that it's a powerful Jutsu? Who's the troublesome one here?" Ino said.

Naruto slipped a kunai out from his leg holster. "So, I guess I'll just try to use as much Taijutsu as I can." Naruto focused his chakra to his feet and pushed himself up into the air. While in the air, he took shuriken from his holster and sent them buzzing through the air towards Konohamaru.

Konohamaru twirled the kunai he had through his fingers so it pointed down, then raised it up in defense. His arm moved with ninja speed and blocked the shuriken, deflecting them and sending them clattering to the ground.

Still looking up, Konohamaru flipped backwards on his hands just as Naruto was about to land on him, kunai drawn. In his handstand, Konohamaru kicked up at Naruto's head, but found his foot stopped in Naruto's palm. Konohamaru smiled. With his free hand, he took his scarf and whipped it through the air, wrapping it around Naruto's legs. With a hard tug, he yanked Naruto to the ground. Placing his feet back on the ground, Konohamaru placed his hands together and then onto the scarf.

"Scarf Bind Jutsu!" He shouted. With that, the scarf suddenly snaked its way up and around Naruto's body, constricting him and causing him to drop the kunai. The kunai landed right behind him. Naruto wriggled and twisted his body, but the scarf held tightly. "I got you, Naruto!"

"I really didn't want to do this right now, but I have no choice." In a flash, Naruto was suddenly standing behind the scarf, the kunai he had dropped earlier right beneath his feet.

"Huh?" Sakura shouted. "Wait, when did he….? But how……? What did he just do?"

"What happened? I blinked and he escaped." Shikamaru said.

With a quick spin on his feet, Naruto slammed his fist into Konohamaru's face, sending the younger genin spinning and rolling across the ground. As Konohamaru stopped, he had a big goofy grin on his face and stars circles around his head.

Lee looked from the now unconscious Konohamaru and then back to Naruto. "It appears to me that the victor is Naruto Uzumaki!"

"Simple, and quick. Nothing special about it." Tsunade said.

Kakashi starred intensely down at the field as Naruto started walking back to the stands. Kakashi pushed up his headband and opened his Sharingan eye just as Naruto picked up the kunai he had dropped earlier. Kakashi noticed the three prongs to it and if he squinted hard enough he could even see the seal engraved on the handle.

A three pronged kunai with a seal on the handle. Kakashi's heart raced, and a drop of sweat dripped down his temple. He had seen kunai like those only once before, and only then in the presence of the Fourth Hokage. The idea that Naruto could have them, much less know Yondaime's most renowned jutsu……

It was impossible. No one was alive who still knew it. And even if they did, who would teach it to Naruto? But then, how could Naruto have escaped Konohamaru's jutsu so swiftly that even Kakashi couldn't track it?

"Now," Rock Lee continued, "will our next two contestants please come down. Udon! Sai! You match begins right away."

"Sir, I feel that I wish to withdrawal." Udon shouted. "Move on to the next match."

"Um?" Sai muttered, turning to his former opponent.

Suki raised a single eyebrow, but aside from that showed no open signs of surprise.

Lee nodded. "As Udon has forfit, the victor is Sai! So, we move on to the next match. Sai vs. Naruto Uzumaki!"


	17. Chunin Finals: Naruto vs Madara

**Chunin Finals: Naruto vs. Madara**

As Konohamaru was taken away by the medics, Naruto and Lee waited for Sai to come down from the balcony. "Sai-san!" Lee shouted. "Please, come down." Sai just leaned against the balcony railing.

"I must forfit as well." Sai said.

"Excuse me?" Lee asked.

"Technically, I not a genin anyway. I'm an AMBU. I only entered this exam so that Naruto would get the chance to become chunin. Now that he's here, I really don't need to do anything. So, I forfit." Sai said nonchalantly.

"Very well." Lee responded. "Then the only thing left to do is end the exams with a fight between Naruto Uzumaki and Suki Toribida. Unless Suki also feels like quitting."

"No chance in hell." Suki shouted as she leapt from the balcony and landed with ease in the battle ring. "I wouldn't miss this for the world." _And during the fight, I can kill Naruto and make it look like an accident._

"Very well." Lee raised his hand in between the combatants. "Begin!"

Suki in a split second raced toward Naruto and aimed a perfectly timed kick for his head. Just as her foot was about to connect, Naruto grabbed her ankle and twisted. Suki spun through the air just as Naruto twisted and kicked her other foot at his face. This time, it made contact and sent Naruto skidding across the floor of the stadium.

_Don't even try it. _Madara thought. _You're out of your league. I've been studying every jutsu you know, from Shadow Clones, Summoning, even your great Rasengan. Nothing you can throw at me now can surprise me._

Sprinting, Suki closed the distance between her and Naruto in half a second, grabbing him by the throat. She lifted him high over her head. With a twist of her wrist, she snapped his neck and tossed him aside.

As the loud cracking sound echoed through the ring, a collective gasp rose from the crown. Sakura starred in horror at the sight of her dead team mate. Suki turned towards the surrounding trees and shouted, "Alright, stop with the clones and fight me head on!"

The dead Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke. Just a Shadow Clone. A barrage of kunai flew from the trees and all zoomed strait for Suki. Suki simply raised her hands and caught the knives between her fingers, the blades never broke the skin. She then spun around and swung her arms out, throwing the knives in various directions, embedding them in the walls all around the battle ring.

Naruto leapt from the trees and into the air, swinging his arms in great arches throwing shuriken and kunai at Suki. _I already showed you that won't do anything to hurt me. _Madara thought. Just as she was about to catch the weapons, a cloud of smoke surrounded each one and they transformed into shadow clones. Each clone pulled their fists back and swung at her head.

Even as they swung, Suki flipped backwards so that it would appear to hit her. Then she braced her hands against the ground and kicked up, catching the closest clone under the chin. Then, still on her hands, she spun in a circle and kicked her legs out knocking the other clones heads together causing them all to vanish.

Lastly, once the clones disappeared she righted herself and merely pushed her hair back. "Please, the academy graduation exams were tougher than this." She remarked.

Kakashi watched with his Sharingan from the Hokage's stage. "Actually, she isn't doing a bad job. In fact, I'd say she far surpasses the level of genin."

Naruto charged, kunai drawn. He thrust his fist forward, aiming the blade for Suki's neck. Suki spun on her toes dodging the knife and slamming her elbow against Naruto's neck. Naruto disappeared in smoke. Another Naruto came at her from her left. With a quick blow, she smashed her fist in his rib cage and he disappeared as well.

A third came from behind. Suki kicked back and again he disappeared. Time and time again, clones dropped like flies. Still, Suki stood in the middle of the ring unfazed. "Alright, Naruto." She shouted. "Stop playing games. Fight me for real."

"Fine." Naruto replied, stepping from the trees. Again, Naruto charged pulling one of the three pronged kunai from his holster. He threw it towards Suki, who back flipped to evade the blade. The kunai stuck in the ground in front of her. As she righted herself, Naruto was suddenly in front of her. His fist right by her face. In her surprise she didn't have time to react. Naruto's fist made contact, smashing into her face and sending her sprawling across the ground.

Kakashi starred in disbelief. He wouldn't believe what he had just seen had he not watched it with his Sharingan. After Naruto threw the kunai, he simply disappeared, not exploded in a puff of smoke, just simply vanished only to reappear right where the kunai landed. "That jutsu." Kakashi whispered. "That's impossible."

"What is it, Kakashi?" Shizune asked.

"That technique, I've only seen it once or twice before. It can be nothing else. The signature jutsu of the Fourth Hokage. The Flying Thunder God." Kakashi stated.

"What?!" Tsunade exasperated. Her eyes widened into a look of great surprise. "He can't have learned that jutsu. Only the Fourth ever learned it, there is no one to teach it to him."

"I wouldn't say that." A voice said.

"Hm?" Kakashi said. He recognized that voice, an old friend of Minato's. Kakashi turned and saw his suspicions confirmed. "Unisha? What are you doing here?"

"I just came by to watch." Unisha replied. "My pupil seems to have grasped the Flying Thunder God technique rather well, surprising since he only started training with it about a week ago."

"So, it was you who taught it to him." Kakashi remarked.

"Yup, just on par with Minato's instructions isn't it, Kakashi?" Unisha said. "He set it all down just before his death. You would take over Naruto's normal training, Jiraiya would teach Naruto the Summoning jutsu and the Rasengan, I would teach him the Flying Thunder God, and the Third would teach him the Reaper Death Seal. Unfortunate that Sarutobi could not complete the regiment, but we could get close couldn't we?"

Madara climbed back to her feet, dusting herself off and rubbing her hand against her cheek. _That was much faster than expected. In fact, it should've been impossible. I guess I made a miscalculation. _She grinned. _Well, at least now it's more interesting. I'll actually have to use my Sharingan now. _She took her sunglasses and slid them over her eyes just as she activated her Sharingan. "Okay, let's get this really started."

Naruto smiled. He took the kunai at his feet and raced for her again. He threw the knife again, this time she caught it and threw it back. As the blade came close to his face, Naruto disappeared again. Madara stop in surprise. Her Sharingan didn't follow his movements. One second he was there, the next he was gone. It just didn't make sense. To her left she heard the buzzing sound of a shuriken flying through the air. In a quick motion, she blocked the projectile with another kunai. There, clinging to the wall with his chakra was Naruto. Right beneath him, one of the kunai she blocked and deflected earlier. Naruto disappeared again, and reappeared above another kunai to throw another shuriken. He did this again and again, all around the wall of the stadium.

Madara just watched in awe at the barrage of shuriken coming at her. In an instant, Naruto had traveled around the whole stadium without her Sharingan being able to track him. She leapt up into the air, spinning like a top as the shuriken collided with themselves. In the air, as she slowed her spinning Naruto sped towards her, condensing the Chakra in his right hand and spinning it. Light blue Chakra energy appeared in his hand and formed a rapidly rotating sphere. "Rasengan!"

Madara half shrieked, half gasped as she saw the powerful and deadly attack closing in on her. She twisted her body backwards barely evading the attack. As she dodged, her sunglasses slipped off her face and was caught by the Rasengan, dissolved by the rotating Chakra. Her eyes met Naruto's in a look of anger and frustration. Naruto also caught her eyes and gasped in amazement and horror. Sharingan!

Madara kicked him under the chin as she spun through the air and landed easily on the tips of her toes. Naruto, after taking such a hit, crashed to the ground with a thud. He jumped back to his feet and looked again at Suki's eyes. He wasn't mistaken. "The Sharingan Eyes!" He shouted. "How do you have Sharingan?"

Suki grinned and shrugged her shoulders. "I guess the jig is up." He body was surrounded in a cloud of white smoke as she disabled the transformation. As the smoke cleared her true self appeared. Roughly 5' 7" with long black hair. She wore deep red lipstick and dark purple eye shadow, short black shorts and a sleeveless black tank top with the Uchiha crest on the front. Strapped around her hips was a long katana. She leaned to her side placing her hands on her hips. "An introduction is an order. My name is Madara Uchiha II."


	18. Madara's Truth

**Madara's Truth**

A stunned silence settled uneasily over the stadium when Suki revealed herself to be Madara Uchiha II. No one dared speak or even breath. In the Hokage and Kazekage stand, Gaara tightened his grip on the cork in his sand gourd. "Lady Hokage," Gaara finally said. "Who is Madara Uchiha II?"

"I can't tell you." Tsunade replied. "I didn't think there was a second Madara."

Down in the stadium, Naruto stared in disbelief. This woman, his dreams, she was the same. Albeit older than his visions showed, but still the same woman. Same clothes, Headband, and same eyes. "You!" He shouted, pointing at Madara. "I've seen you before in my dreams!"

"Oh, how cute. I'm your dream girl, I'll take that as a complement." Madara rested her hand on the hilt of her katana. "Where they naughty dreams?" She asked with a twisted sort of perverted smile.

"AAHH! No! Nightmares. Dreams showing you killing hundreds of people while controlling the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon." Naruto said.

"Really? How interesting." She turned her head and faced Rock Lee. "Mangekyo Sharingan!" Madara said, making eye contact with Lee. In an instant, Lee gasped in horror and collapsed. "Your friend is caught in Genjutsu. I can't have anyone getting in the way of my mission."

"Mission?" Naruto asked.

"My mission to kill you." In a split second, Madara charged forward and slammed her fist into Naruto's face. Naruto was sent cascading back and crashed into the walls of the stadium.

Tsunade jumped to her feet, throwing her coat to the ground. "Lord Kazekage, come with me. We're stopping this, now."

Gaara stood up, shouldering his gourd over his shoulder. "Yes, Lady Hokage."

"I don't think so." Madara sneered. In quick succession, she clasped her hands together into hand signs so fast that even Kakashi couldn't see the signs coherently. Then she drew in a deep breath and screamed, "Fire Style!! Blue Flame Dragon Inferno!!" An enormous eruption of blue fire shot from her mouth, flames large enough to engulf the entire stadium if she chose. The fire flew up towards where Tsunade and Gaara stood. Gaara leapt in front of the Hokage and pushed his gourd out in front of him. His gourd turned itself to sand and formed a wall in front of everyone in the Hokage and Kazekage stand, as well as everyone in the stands.

The blue fire slammed against the sand wall and engulfed it. After a steady five minutes, the flames finally dissipated. The enormous sand wall had been turned to glass. "Good." Madara said. "That should keep you sealed off of now. With all of the Kazekage's precious sand turned to glass, he's virtually useless in battle and no longer able to defend anyone should I choose to use another Blue Dragon Flame."

Tsunade sneered and bit her lip. That Uchiha bitch was right. Although Tsunade could easily break this glass, she wouldn't be able to defend if Madara used another one of those fire attacks. And Gaara had used all his sand to block the last one. All she, and everyone else could do now was watch and listen.

Naruto climbed out of the crater in the wall, his hand placed over his nose. "OW! You crazy bitch! You broke my nose!" He shouted._ This girl, she can punch almost as hard as Tsunade Baa-chan or Sakura. Naruto thought. He popped his nose back in place._

Madara grinned and laughed. "Orochimaru sent me on a mission to kill you? You're pathetic. This will be too easy." She slid her sword from its sheath and held it across her shoulders. "Come at me, Uzumaki."

Naruto raced for her as he placed his fingers together to form a cross. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Another Naruto appeared next to him. The two charged for her, drawing the special kunai. When they came close, they jumped into the air and threw their kunai knives. Madara swung her sword in a circle in front of her and deflected both knives.

As she watched, Naruto held his right hand out to his clone who swirled both its hands over his, spinning and concentrating Chakra. A blue sphere appeared in Naruto's hand. Naruto and his clone descended on her, with Naruto pulling his hand back to attack. In one swift movement, Madara swung her sword in and arch, slicing the clone in two. As the katana came close to Naruto, he suddenly disappeared only to reappear right next to Madara where she had let the kunai fall.

Naruto thrust his arm at her, the Chakra spinning as fast as possible. "Rasengan!" He shouted.

"Too slow." Madara said. As the ball of Chakra came for her, she grabbed Naruto's wrist and squeezed. His wrist bones were crunched. Naruto screamed and the Rasengan dissipated. Madara slammed her knee into Naruto's stomach, hearing even more bones crack in his ribcage. She dropped the crippled kid to the ground and watched him curl up in the fetal position. "You really are weak. To think, Orochimaru considered you enough of a threat to send me out to kill you. You know, you may look just like him, but you are nothing compared to Minato Namikaze; the Fourth Hokage. He'd be so disappointed in you."

"Shut up!" Naruto growled, blood slipping from his lips. He pushed himself up, straining in pain.

"You're still getting up? Just lay there like a dog. You're way out of your league. I know every trick the original Yellow Flash of Konoha knew at his peak. You are just a cheap knock off." Madara said.

Naruto looked up at Madara and glared at her with red slitted eyes. Steam rose from his chest, wrist, and nose. The Fox's Chakra healing him.

"I can see you're getting use out of your little friend. I'll just have to take care of that." Madara raised one hand and pointed at Naruto. She Sharingan eyes met with Naruto's.

Deep inside Naruto's mind, inside the concrete walls and tunnels, Naruto stood outside the cage of the Fox Demon. Red Chakra poured from the bars and engulfed around the boy. Suddenly, chains reached out from the darkness and wrapped around the Kyuubi. The fox roared in anger, tugging and pulling on the chains, but they continued to tighten around the animals body. It snarled and thrashed about inside the cage, but chains continued to string themselves around the monster. As the fox roared, a chain wrapped wound its muzzle slamming its mouth closed. The excess red Chakra stopped flowing from the cage.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted. He ran up to the cage and grabbed hold of the bars. "Hey! You damn fox! What's going on?" He gasped in horror. The Once mighty and all powerful Nine-Tailed Fox was now chained to the floor with cords holding its feet, tails, and mouth down.

"It's that damn Sharingan!" Kyuubi Snarled through its teeth.

The chains tightened and constrained the beast more. In the darkness of the cage, a set of eyes opened above the fox and glared down at Naruto. Sharingan Eyes. "Quiet, mutt. You speak when your master tells you to."

Back outside, Naruto felt his flow of Chakra from the Kyuubi suddenly disappear. "There." Madara said. "That should hold you down for a while. Don't you know, the true power of the Sharingan is to control the tailed demons. Everything else the Sharingan does is just a side benefit."

Naruto glared. His breath came in hisses._ Damn this woman. She blocked my access to the Fox Chakra, and was able to get passed my Rasengan and Flying Thunder God jutsu's almost like it was nothing._

Madara raced for Naruto, her sword raised up past her head. She swung her katana just as Naruto placed his arms up in front of him to block. The blade slashed across his arms. In the same motion, Madara spun on her feet and kicked Naruto in the chest. The younger ninja slammed into the ground with a bone crunching thud.

A gasp rose from the crowd. Sakura jumped to her feet. "Naruto!" She shouted. She pulled her black gloves on and pulled back a fist to smash the glass wall. "Hold on!"

"Sakura!" Neji shouted. "There's nothing we can do. If you smash this glass and try to help Naruto, then that sound ninja down their will just use another of those Blue Fire attacks to stop you and kill everyone else up here."

"We have to do something! We can't just sit here!" Sakura shouted.

Shikamaru inhaled deeply, the closed his eyes and exhaled placing his fingertips together in a circle with his thumbs up. He sat there, not moving except for the occasional breathing. His mind began to race, thinking of every possible situation and of a way to counter it. He started to form a plan.

Madara walked over and placed her foot down on Naruto's neck. "You know, I've encountered several other Jinchuriki before. But not once have I ever seen one like you. No one ever likes the Jinchuriki, but here I find people in your same age group who speak rather highly of you. I wonder, do any of them know?"

Naruto's eyes shot open. He squirmed and grabbed her foot, trying to push it away. But it held in place. "Shut up!"

"I wonder, DO ANY OF YOU KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT YOUR SO CALLED FRIEND!?" Madara shouted up to the crowd, making sure to shout loud enough for others to hear her.

"Oh no. Is she planning to…" Kakashi said.

"She can't." Shizune said, squeezing Tonton.

"SHOULD I TELL THEM, NARUTO? SHOULD I TELL THEM WHAT YOU REALLY ARE? I DOUBT ANY OF THEM WIL STILL LIKE YOU AFTER THAT!" Madara continued to shout.

"No! Don't! I'll kill you if you do!" Naruto growled.

Madara grinned. She grabbed Naruto by the hair and lifted him up. Naruto screamed in pain and he was help above the ground by his hair. Madara then lifted up his shirt and placed her fingers against his stomach. Her fingers glowed slightly with chakra and the Seal appeared on Naruto's stomach. "DON'T TELL THEM THAT TRAPPED RIGHT HERE, INSIDE THEIR FRIEND, IS THE MONSTER THAT KILLED SO MANY AND VIRTUALLY LEFT THE VILLAGE IN RUIN 16 YEARS AGO? DON'T TELL THEM THAT THEIR FRIEND IS INFACT THE HOST FOR THE SPIRIT OF THE NINE-TAILED FOX?"

Everyone in the stands fell instantly silent. Neji, Tenten, Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Choji, Ino, and Shikamaru were each taken back by what they had just heard. None of them could comprehend, much less believe, what they had just heard. Sakura punched her unchakra enhanced fist against the glass barrier and hung her head low. Her eyes held tightly shut in anger and despair. A tear slipped through her eye lids. "No." she said in a cracked voice. "How could she?"

Tears began to flow from Naruto's eyes too. Everything he had worked for, every ounce of respect he had fought for over his whole life was now undone in an instant. Even with his eyes closed, he could feel the hatred of the other villagers, their eyes crawling across his skin.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Madara whispered in his ear. "What do you have to live for now that everyone knows the truth, even your so called friends? They hate you now. All of them despise you, and why not? You are a monster, a relic that no one wants around."

Gaara ground his teeth together upon hearing this. This woman, berating Naruto like that and trying, perhaps successfully, to turn everyone against Naruto again. Calling him a monster and a relic, these were things Gaara had heard all to much.

"No one ever told them about what you are, just as no one has ever told you about your parents." Madara dropped Naruto back to the ground and stomped her foot on his back. "DOES ANYONE KNOW WHO YOUR PARENTS ARE, EITHER? BOY, I'M IN A TALKITIVE MODE TODAY, TELLING ALL SORTS OF SECRETS. I KNOW WHO KNOWS, THAT OLD PRUNE OF A HOKAGE UP THERE KNOWS, AS DOES KAKASHI AND SHIZUNE, THE THIRD KNEW, AS DID JIRAIYA. THEY ALL KNOW WHO YOUR MOM AND DAD WERE, SO WHY DID THEY NEVER TELL YOU? SO MANY SECRETS KEPT FROM YOU AND FROM EVERYONE IN THIS VILLAGE. WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW, TOO?"

Naruto grouned.

"I DIDN'T HEAR YOU, I SAID DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHO YOUR PARENTS WERE?" Madara shouted.

"NOT FROM YOUR MOUTH!!" Naruto screamed.

Madara laughed. "So, the secret that everyone you've ever trusted has been keeping from you, you don't want to know? What a horrible child, to not even care about your parents. Even with both of them dead, died in the line of duty trying to save you. And then everyone else has kept this secret from you." Madara lifted her foot off Naruto and walked a short distance away. "OF COARSE, THIS IS ALSO A SECRET THAT THE WHOLE VILLAGE DOESN'T KNOW. IT WOULD TARNISH THE IMAGE OF THEIR GREATEST HERO. WHO WOULD WANT TO KNOW THAT NARUTO UZUMAKI, THE NINE-TAILED BRAT, IS ALSO THE BASTARD CHILD OF THE FOURTH HOKAGE!!"

Naruto's heart skipped a beat. The surprise of this statement froze him where he lay. He couldn't move, couldn't' think, couldn't comprehend what had just been said. Child….of the Fourth? Could it be true? Could his greatest idol really be his own father? But then why? Why would the fourth put the Nine-Tails in his own son? Could it all be a lie to try and torment him?

Sakura starred wide-eyed down from the stands. "Naruto's father……is the Fourth Hokage?" she whispered.


	19. Demon Consumption

**Demon consumption**

Naruto lay flat against the ground, still lost in utter disbelief. His father, the Fourth Hokage? What if it was true? Why did no one tell him? Why keep a secret like that from him? Did Kakashi know? Or Jiraiya and Tsunade? Why? Why? **Why!!** Or it could all be a lie that Madara was using against him to make him angry and unstable. If it was just a lie it was working, he was plenty pissed. Mad at Madara for telling if it was a lie, and mad at everyone else if it was true. Naruto could feel the anger, the warm burning heat in his blood rise. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth together so hard it hurt his mouth. He didn't care.

Naruto pushed back against the ground and stood up, his glaring eyes burning with hatred stared right at Madara. Madara's grin faded slightly. _I've seen eyes burn with that kind of hatred before from Sasuke._ She thought.

Naruto pulled his remaining four teleportation kunai from his weapons pouch and threw them all at Madara. She swung her sword out in front of her and blocked the oncoming projectiles. As the kunai were deflected off the blade and fell, Naruto unleashed the seal. He appeared directly in front of Madara, his fist pulled back for a punch. Madara moved to block, but just as she did Naruto disappeared again and reappeared over one of the other kunai. He slammed his fist into her back, then disappeared again only to reappear above another kunai. Naruto delivered blow after blow this way, rapidly appearing, attacking, refueling the seal and teleporting again.

Not every attack was successful, in fact most weren't. For every five punches and kicks thrown, only two actually got through. And his Chakra was being depleted faster than he wanted. But he didn't care. He would continue to attack if it killed him.

Madara felt the punches and kicks hit. Each one felt like it was enhanced, even those she blocked. This annoying kid was using the Flying Thunder God at a level she had not seen since the Fourth Hokage. Of course, she never had much of a chance to observe this particular jutsu much in the past. But she could tell that against this jutsu, her Sharingan was all but useless. She could predict Naruto's movements, but she could not track which seal he would unleash next. Even so, she still had the upper hand.

At one point, Naruto finally stopped. He punched Madara dead in the back, then simply stopped, gasping for breath. Madara as well had stopped. She had started to feel the strain from the constant attacks. _Dammit._ Naruto thought. _I can't keep using the Thunder God Jutsu like this. I just don't have the Chakra to._

_Not on your own, boy._ The Fox in Naruto's head said.

Back in the sewer caverns of Naruto's mind, the Kyuubi lay chained in its cage. Naruto stood outside the cage, looking down on the trapped creature. "What do you want now, fox?"

"You can still tap into my power, even with me held down like this." Kyuubi said.

"What?" Naruto shouted. He ran up to the gates and grabbed the bars. "If that's so, then why aren't you helping me?"

"I can't willingly do anything. The Sharingan stops me from doing anything on my own right now. I can't give you any of my power. You have to take it." Kyuubi growled. It tugged against the chains, inching closer to the gates. "You have to step past the seal and enter the gate. Once you place your hands on my body, my power can flow into you."

"If I just go in there and touch you, then I can take you rower?" Naruto asked.

"You can use all of my power as yours. Isn't that what you want? If you use all of my power, then that Uchiha bitch won't stand a chance. She is the one that caused all the torment in your life, if it wasn't for her I would never have attacked Konoha in the first place. Now, just take my power and use it to destroy her!" Kyuubi roared.

Naruto hesitated, clutching the cold metal of the cage bars. Slowly, he stepped forward. He passed by the gate and walked up to the trapped beast. He reached out to the fox, then stopped. "What are you waiting for? Do it. Take my power and kill her, for the sake of all those she killed sixteen years ago."

"I shouldn't. It would be no better. If I killed her like that, then it would just be out of revenge." Naruto said.

"Is that any different than what you've been doing before? The first time you took my power, it was to kill the boy from the Mist Village when he almost killed Sasuke. The next time, it was to kill Orochimaru who was endangering your friends. And later it was to attack the Hyuuga kid that had hurt Hinata. Each time you've taken my Chakra it was to take your revenge out on a particular person. This time is no different. She not only brought about the death of your father, but also the death of you whole family.

"Remember your dreams, they were all true. That clan that I ruled over and protected was the Uzumaki clan. Your clan, and it was because of her that they were all killed. You would not be alone if not for her. Now you have the chance to end her now."

Naruto stood next to the fox, his hand held out, inches from the red fur of the beast. Then, forcing himself to, he presses his hands against the tailed demons body.

Outside, Naruto felt an enormous rush of power. Power greater than he had ever felt before. His eyes turned red and slitted, his fingernails grew long and pointed. More like claws than nails. His teeth became pointed, and red Chakra began to form around his body. He let it, he wanted the power. He gave himself to it.

Madara stared in amazement. This couldn't be happening. She sealed the fox down, it couldn't be giving him more Charka. _Unless,_ she thought, _Naruto is taking the Chakra himself. Of that is the case, then he can take all the Fox's chakra he wanted. If he did that, then not only could Naruto defeat her, he could destroy the entire Leaf Village._

Madara charged for Naruto, her sword drawn and ready to attack. Naruto reached out with one hand and the Chakra shot from his body in the form of a giant fox paw. The chakra slammed into Madara and smashed her against the wall of the arena. She coughed from the impact, and blood flew from her lips. She focused her Chakra to her eyes, activating Mangekyo Sharingan. She looked down at the Chakra arm holding her. "Amatarasu!!" Black flames erupted on the red Chakra. Naruto pulled the Chakra back, dissolved that arm. The black flames evaporated. Madara dropped down from the wall and landed on her knees. She gasped for breath, holding her hand against her chest.

Up in the Kage stand, Tsunade, Kakashi, Shizune, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro watched motionless. "This is different from before." Kakashi said. "Usually, when Naruto uses the Fox Chakra its just whatever happens to leak out from the seal. Like a leaky water faucet. This is more like Naruto took the faucet and turned it up full blast."

"I can't stand back anymore!" Tsunade said, pulling her fist back. "Madara is no longer in any condition to fight back from a massive counter attack." Tsunade slammed her fist against the glass shield. From the impact point a spider web cracked through the glass and spread throughout the whole barrier. The shield shattered, glass falling down into the arena. Tsunade stepped up on the edge of the railing, but before she could jump Naruto roared.

A roar that literally caused the air around them to shake. Even Tsunade was afraid of that. Below them, Naruto had quickly grown to the level of Three-Tailed transformation. With a fourth tail forming. No one dared to go down into the arena now. Everyone who was old enough remembered the fight against the Kyuubi sixteen years ago, and below them was the same demon materializing again.

Naruto trust both arms forward at Madara. Madara saw the red Chakra arms reaching for her. She grabbed her sword and rolled to the side, just as the Chakra crashed into the arena wall. Chunks of rock and concrete blasted off the side of the wall from the impact. Naruto dragged the Chakra through the walls, leaving a huge gash in his wake. Madara got to her feet and starting sprinting, the demon chakra continuing to follow her. And closing in on her. She knew that she could not escape.

The Chakra slammed into her again and sent her flying across the floor of the arena. She flipped and rolled, finally coming to a stop when she crashed into the far side of the stadium. Madara struggled to move, her Sharingan deactivated.

Inside Naruto's mind, the chains that held the Fox broke. Chakra suddenly exploded all around him, the fourth tail formed, as well as a fifth tail of Chakra. Naruto was now lost in his rage. The Chakra tails whipped around smashing into the walls and pillars around the spectators. He lashed out with his arms, throwing them in all different directions. Everything he touched was destroyed.

Sakura looked down on Naruto. Tears began to well up in her eyes. Watching the pain that he was going through just became to much for her to bare. She placed her foot onto the railing and was about to jump when a blur moved past her first. Looking down, she saw the person who had jumped down from the stands first.

"Hinata! What are you doing?!" Neji shouted.

In truth, even Hinata didn't know why she had jumped down. She just saw Naruto in such rage and could bring herself to stand back anymore. She knew that she had to do something. What that something was, she didn't know. But she knew that the time had come for her to be brave, to stand up and confront her fears. And to finally help the one she cared about most.

"Naruto!" Hinata shouted. "Stop, Naruto!" Naruto looked up and saw Hinata falling through the air and into the arena. In his rage, he didn't care. He lashed out at her, caught her in his Chakra claws and threw her against the ground. She cried out in pain as the crushing force was brought down on her.

Inside Naruto's mind, he still stood inside the cage with both hands placed on the Fox. Even with the fox freed, he still pulled more power from it. "Naruto," the Fox said, "stop. It's over."

Naruto didn't listen. He hardly cared. All he wanted now was to destroy. Destroy everyone and everything. They had hated him, tormented him, pushed him around, threw thing s at him, almost everything a person could do short of killing him. They all deserved to die. And he would kill them all!!

Naruto suddenly felt a great force shove him away. The Fox had grabbed him and pushed him back outside the gate, cutting off his supply to the Chakra. Naruto landed on his side and tumbled across the wet concrete floor. Once he stopped he got up and looked back at the gate. "Why did you stop me!?"

"Because," The Fox said, its voice changing. No longer deep raspy and terrifying, but softer, kinder, and arguably more feminine. "I can't let you go on doing this to yourself." The Fox's shape changed. It shrank down from its enormous size all they way down to human size, and also to a human form. A round, soft and kind face with long red hair formed. A face Naruto had seen before, in his dreams. "Your father would not have wanted this." The Kyuubi, now with the appearance of a woman said. "Arashi, Minato, never wanted any of this to happen."

_Wait a minute._ Naruto thought. _I do remember her from a dream, and only one person called The Fourth "Arashi." That person was…_

"Kushina Uzumaki?" Naruto asked.

The woman behind the gate nodded.

Naruto's breath came in short panicked gasps. Things began to fit together. The dream about the man and woman discussing their child, the dream about the other woman taking a baby to its father, the dream of Madara confronting this woman about Kushina's child, and lastly the dream of the Kyuubi talking with Minato and calling him "Arashi". Only Kushina called Minato "Arashi." Kushina was the woman with the Fourth, the mother of the Fourth Hokage's child, Naruto was that child. And Kushina Uzumaki was also the…

Outside, Naruto's shield of red Chakra suddenly dissipated. This revelation was so great, that he lost all chakra control. He looked around the arena, seeing the craters that had been gouged out of the walls. All the destruction, that he had caused. He glanced to his side and saw Hinata, unconscious and injured on the ground. "Hinata!" Naruto shouted, he started to run towards her when another figure appeared between him and Hinata.

Neji moved into his Gentle Fist stance, placing himself between Naruto and Hinata. "Don't, Naruto. Don't get any closer to her." Neji said with a stern voice. Some of the others; Shikamaru, Sakura, Choji, and Kiba also jumped down next to Neji and Hinata. Sakura glanced with one sorrowful look at Naruto, then knelt down next to Hinata. The others just seemed to stare at Naruto.

Naruto then turned and ran. Ran as fast as he could. Where? Who knows. Who cares. They all hated him now, everyone. Not just for what he was, but also for what he'd done. He ran out of the stadium, tears streaming down his cheeks. He had no where left to go, no one left to trust, only loneliness.

Gaara watched from the balcony, his fist gripped the railing tightly. He saw as Naruto ran, even seeing the tears fall from his eyes. He whispered, quieter than anyone could hear, "Naruto."


	20. Family

**Family**

Naruto ran as fast as he could back to his small apartment. Once he got there, he slammed the door closed behind him and threw himself on his bed. He lay face down with his face buried in his arms, weeping. As much as he tried, the tears could not stop flowing. His life was ruined. Everything he had ever hoped to achieve, all his dreams and ambitions gone in an instant. He had seen that look in their eyes, their eyes were cold and empty when they looked at him. Neji, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, and even Sakura. When they looked at him they didn't see the Naruto anymore. They saw a monster.

A light knock came at his door. "Naruto," Kakashi sensei's voice called from the other side. "Naruto, open this door."

"Go away!" Naruto shouted back.

"Naruto, Tsunade is here with me. We need to talk." Kakashi said.

"Why should I talk to you?!" Naruto screamed. He screamed so loud, his voice hurt. "You knew! You knew the whole time, about everything! Why did you never tell me!? How could you do this!? Of coarse, what else would I expect, with the way everyone treats bastard demon monsters like me!! Why would I think any of you should have a shred of compassion for me to tell me anything about my mom or dad!! Of coarse, Why should I acknowledge them? My own father sealed that monster in me, in his own son!! What kind of person would do that!? Tell me that much, huh!?"

To that, no reply came. Why would it, what could Kakashi or Tsunade say? What could they do?

Naruto buried his face in his pillow, bawling. The pillow quickly became soaked with his tears. Why, why did so much have to happen? It didn't matter now. There was no going back, everything had changed in a matter of hours. Not even that, at matter of minutes.

Outside, a new set of footsteps came down the hall and towards Naruto's door. Then a new voice. "Excuse me, Lady Tsunade, Kakashi. I think I should talk to him." This new voice, Gaara. Gaara knocked his knuckles against the door. "Naruto, hey. I, uh, look just open the door will you. You can talk to me, can't you?" Naruto didn't answer. Gaara sighed and leaned his shoulder up against the door. Then, a small clicking sound came from the doorknob, the sound of it unlocking.

Gaara turned the knob in his hand and just as he pushed the door open, Kakashi tapped his shoulder. "Here." Kakashi said, taking a small envelope from his vest. "Give this to Naruto." Gaara took the envelope, then closed the door behind him.

Gaara looked around the small apartment, the various empty ramen cups stacked on the table, the dirty laundry on the floor, dirty dishes, trashed that had not been taken out, the place was a mess. "Do you ever clean this place?" Gaara asked.

"I don't need your house keeping tips." Naruto groaned, sitting back down on his bed.

"Yeah, probably not right now." Gaara folded his arms and looked down at the ground. Even though he had gotten in, he didn't know what to do now. What was there to say? Finally, after a while of silence, "Look, Naruto, about what happened out there. I just want to say that no one thinks differently of you."

"Oh really? You didn't see how they looked at me. That look in their eyes, cold. Cold as an ice storm. Like I was a horrible disgusting thing to be crushed and removed, then forgotten." Naruto said.

"No, Naruto. I've seen that look before. All the time. Remember who you're talking to. And remember what you said to me, how all those people helped to save you. And now some of those very people are standing outside your door trying to help you now, again, and you turn your back on them?" Gaara said.

"If they cared so much, why didn't they tell me the truth?" Naruto asked.

"My guess, they knew something like this would happen. They wanted to wait until you were ready to learn. But then that Uchiha girl showed up, and has messed up everything. They didn't expect her to show up, no one did." Gaara responded. Naruto continued to sit on his bed, with his knees brought up to his chin and his eyes hidden under his arms. "I guess what I'm saying isn't getting through. Gaara walked over and set the envelope down next to Naruto. As Gaara walked to the door, he turned and looked back for a moment. "Even if the world chooses to desert you, I won't. When all else fails, all us Jinchuriki have is each other." Then Gaara stepped out.

Naruto looked down at the envelope sitting beside him. He picked it up and tore the top off, pulling a folded up piece of paper out. Unfolding it, he saw it was a letter written on old paper that had started to turn yellow from age. The date written on it, October 10, 16 years ago. He began to read.

_Dear Naruto,_

_I am sorry, so truly sorry, my son. I don't know if anything can be said to make you understand what has happened, or why I did what I did. I regret that I couldn't be there when you needed me most._

_I wanted the villagers to see you as a hero, a savior of Konoha. But, I don't know if that will ever happen. You suffer a lonely childhood, with no father or mother, all because of what I did. I should've been there for you, to teach you, protect you, and love you the way a father should. But, I couldn't._

_I was there the day you were bone, and you were with me when I died. Even if I can't be with you, I will always watch over you in spirit. It breaks my heart to not be there._

_Listen to Jiraiya, he taught me. And listen to Kakashi, I taught him. And even listen to Unisha, he was taught with me. Between the three of them, you should get something close to me._

_Believe in your dreams, whatever they may be. You are the son of the Fourth Hokage, if you try you can do anything. Maybe even someday, become greater than me. I gave this letter to Kakashi to give to you when you are ready to learn the truth, hopefully, that is why you're reading it now._

_As for the reason I sealed the Kyuubi in you, it wasn't out of spite or contentment for you. It was the last gift I could give you, even if it seems like more of a curse. I'm at the end of my rope now, I can't write much more. I just want you to know, I love you and I miss you. Someday, you will take my strength and it will become yours. When that happens, you, the son, will become the father. And the father, becomes the son._

_If you ever find her, tell your mother that I still and forever will love her, too. No matter what._

_Sincerely, Minato Namikaze. Yondaime._

Tear drops fell from Naruto's eyes and landed on the paper. His heart, Naruto felt as if his heart had been gouged with a knife. It hurt, hurt more than any kunai. His father's final, and only words to him. He wept.

Inside his mind, he saw the woman behind the cage also crying, wiping her tears away. He stepped up to the cage and grabbed the bars. The woman, really the Fox demon in human form, turned and looked at him. "Are…" Naruto had a hard time forming the words in his mouth. "Are you really Kushina Uzumaki?"

"Yes." She said, wiping away another tear.

"And, are you really my…?" Naruto still couldn't say it, he choked up each time. "My…"

"Mother?" Kushina said. "Yes, I am."

"Then why? Why did all of this happen? How come every time I came here to talk to you, you would shove me off and push me back? Why did you never…"

"Because of what I am. I am the Nine-Tailed Fox. And since you knew that, I couldn't just let you know that the beast that ransacked you home and led your father to his grave was also your mother. I had to play the role of the heartless beast, because that is what was known about the Fox." She said.

"But why did you attack in the first place? The letter said that he loved you, so why?" Naruto asked.

"Madara." Kushina asked. "The night after you were born, Madara came looking for you. I don't know why she was after you specifically, but she was. She used her Sharingan on me and used my to destroy our clan, the Uzumaki clan. The clan I was supposed to protect, I was forced to kill.

"But Toribida, my most faithful friend and midwife had taken you away to your father to protect you. Even after that, she managed to delay Madara long enough to allow Minato and the rest of the leaf village to prepare for attack, and for Madara's Sharingan to ware off. After I was free, I went back to the leaf to look for you. In the end, the only way for Minato to truly protect you from Madara was to seal me in you. That way, you would have all of my power to help you." Kushina finished. "I'm just sorry so much had to happen."

"Sorry? Do you know how many times I had to use iodine to the cuts and scrapes I got from the villagers? And the gauze I needed to have permanently stashed in my cabinet? What kind of six year old should know how to use iodine to disinfect open wounds? You remember that time I was knocked down the embankment by the river. They said it was an accident, it always was an accident. The rocks thrown at me were always accidents, every time I got hit, knocked over, a bloody nose, black eye, never on purpose they said. That time I got knocked down the embankment by the river, I cut my arm open on a sharp river rock. And even through I screamed in pain, they did nothing to help."

_The day Naruto spoke off, he was six years old and it was near sunset. He was walking down the path by the river, his head hung low like it often was. Walking down the path towards him was a man dressed in a grayish green kimono. As he walked past Naruto, he bumped him roughly with his shoulder._

_The six year old stumbled and his foot slipped on the edge of the embankment. Naruto fell and rolled down the side of the embankment. His left arm slammed into a jutting sharp rock, stabbing deep. The boy screamed out in pain, blood flowing down his arm. The man just walked away. "It would be better if he died, anyways." he said._

_Naruto walked home that way, gripping his left arm with his right hand to try and stop the bleeding. One would think he'd go to a hospital, but the last time he went there they turned him away. No one wanted him around. Once home, Naruto took out the iodine and splashed it over his arm. The stinging pain that came with it caused him to cry even more. Iodine and gauze, it seemed to happen to much for him._

"Do you remember that day?" Naruto asked.

"I remember it well, Naruto. I also remember the night that followed." Kushina said.

_That night, Naruto lay face down in his pillow weeping. Why were they so mean to him? Why did they hurt him so much? What did he ever do to them? Why did everybody hate him? It was cold that night, the fridged wind of mid October blew in from his bedroom window. Even on his birthday he knew he would cry himself to sleep again, just like he did every other night._

_He remembered looking around that day, seeing all the other kids his own age and watching them with their parents. Sasuke shopping with his mom, Mikoto. And Sakura with her mom. Even Hinata with her dad. Where were his mom and dad, why were they never there?_

_Suddenly, he felt something warm press against him and wrap around him. Like a nice warm pair of arms. He got up and looked, but there was nothing. He closed his eyes and started to cry again, but the warm feeling came back. Like someone was giving him a kind hug from behind. He tried to look again, but once again it disappeared. He turned away once more, and the feeling came back. A tight, loving hug. Someone holding him close._

_This time, Naruto didn't try to look for it. He just closed his eyes and let it happen. And it didn't disappear. In fact, it got warmer. He reached out and thought he could feel them. He grabbed and pulled them closer, embracing whatever it was, never opening his eyes. He didn't want it to disappear again._

_He thought he felt a hand on the top of his head, stroking his hair softly. And a kiss on the top of his head. The same way he saw Sasuke's mom and Sakura's mom do. "My baby boy." A voice whispered. He fell asleep that way._

"That was you?" Naruto asked.

"Yes." Kyuubi/Kushina said. "The only way I could interact with you was through my Chakra. I just wanted to hold you, to love you as a mother should love her child. And I never got the chance. I could never hold you in my arms, not the way I wanted and you needed." Kushina's voice cracked as she tried to speak. The tears welled up in her eyes and slid down her face, splashing to the cold concrete floor below.

Naruto couldn't hold back anymore. He ran past the gate and threw his arms around her, holding her in tight embrace. Not caring now if she was the Kyuubi or not. He still let the tears flow, but now they were tears of joy. Happiness. After so long, after so much had happened, he had finally found her. "Mommy." He said, his voice broken with emotion.

Kushina wrapped her arms around Naruto, pulling him to her. Holding him in her arms for the first time since the day he was born. "My baby boy."


	21. Security

**Security**

Kakashi and Tsunade stood outside Naruto's door, waiting. Gaara had come out a few minutes ago, but since then there had been no movement. Kakashi sighed. "Wonder how he's taking it." Kakashi said.

"He's a tough kid." Tsunade replied. "It may take a little longer, but the Naruto we know will probably recover."

The door knob twisted and Naruto stepped out of his apartment to meet the concerned faces of his peers. He didn't say anything for a long time. Finally, he ran over and wrapped his arms around Kakashi's waist. Kakashi took a step back in surprise, Naruto still clinging to him. "Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"Arigatoo, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said. He let go of his teacher and held up the letter. "Thanks for giving me this, and for putting up with me for so long."

Kakashi smiled under his mask. "It's okay, kid."

"And Tsunade-sama," Naruto said turning to her. "Thank you, too." He said, bowing deeply at the waist before running over to her and clinging to her as well.

"uh, sure." Tsunade said. She turned her head to Kakashi and mouthed, "Sama?" to him. Kakashi just shrugged.

"Tsunade, is Hinata alright?" Naruto asked.

"She's fine. We took her to the hospital right after you left." Tsunade replied.

"Thanks." Naruto then turned away and started walking. As Naruto walked, he thought he felt time suddenly slow. His mind was racing so face. In the past few minutes, his entire life had been turned upside down and so much had happened.

But that would have to wait, right now he needed to go down to the hospital and make sure Hinata was okay. He felt so horrible that he had hurt her, even if it was because of the demon Chakra influence. He still had so many questions that needed answers from his mother, but he decided to wait until later to ask them.

Once he made it to the hospital, he felt butterflies in his stomach from nervousness. Right now probably many others would be in there with Hinata, and all of them more than likely never wanted to see him again. But still, he knew he had to go in. He found himself standing at the doorway to the hospital before he knew it.

He took a deep breath to calm down, then stepped inside. There were other people in the lobby, and receptionists behind the desk. Already he felt eyes crawling over his skin. Naruto came up to the counter, his head hung low in shame. "Excuse me, which room is Hyuuga Hinata being kept in?"

"Room 12 on the second floor." The receptionist answered in a cold robotic voice, perhaps to hide hatred. She did a poor job.

Naruto thanked her and made his way to the second floor and to room 12. He reached for the handle, then stopped. Was she even awake? What if she was? What would he say to her, sorry I almost killed you it was because of a monster demon's power? Yeah, that should go over well. And what if Neji was there? Or Hiashi? Or both? Either of them would kill him the second he stepped through the door.

He stood there with his hand held out in midair for at least three minutes, not moving. That is until the door opened in front of him and he jolted up and looked right into the white and seemingly empty eyes of Hyuuga Neji. Naruto stood in shock starring right at Neji. That is until Neji grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him into the room. "Come on, she wants to see you." Neji said.

The Room was full of people. The rest of Team 8, Team 10, Team Guy, and Sand Trio, Sakura and Sai where all crowed in this small place. All of them looked up at Naruto as he came in, Naruto turned his face away so as not to meet their gaze.

Neji pulled Naruto into the room and dragged him over to the bed where Hinata was sitting. She was sitting up, bandages wrapped around her arms neck and a few places over her face, and a IV needle was stuck in her arm. "Oh, Naruto-kun. Are you okay?" she asked.

"Me? What about you, Hinata? You're the one that got hurt." Naruto said, sitting down in the chair next to her.

"It's not bad. I'll be fine." Hinata said.

_Look at her, _Naruto thought, _Acting so brave like it was nothing. Trying to hide her pain._ "Hinata, you don't have to be so nice. Please, don't cover it up. It was my fault, I hurt you like that." Naruto felt a lump in his throat form. "Hinata, if you hate me, I'll understand why. I won't blame you." A tear slipped from Naruto's eye and slashed on the floor.

A hand placed itself on his shoulder. "Why would we hate you, Naruto? You're are friend. No demon will change that." Shikamaru said.

"Yeah, come on." Choji grinned, opening another bag of potato chips. "You think we'd hate you after this? Even though you've helped save the life of virtually everyone in this room? Honestly, who in this room has not been saved or helped by our little knucklehead?"

Naruto didn't know what to think as he watched and crowd of his friends and peers laugh and smile in agreement around him. "So, you guys don't think I'm some kind of freak or monster?"

Kiba laughed and barking laugh. "Shino is a walking ant farm, Neji and Hinata can see through walls, Choji weights a ton, Sakura is stronger than a elephant, Rock Lee is …well, Rock Lee, and I talk to dogs. That's just some of us. You think you're a freak? We are a traveling and ass kicking circus freak show. You fit in just fine."

"How sentimental." A voice said. The side curtain separating one patient from the other slid along the rail and revealed Madara Uchiha II laying the bad adjacent to Hinata, and with more bandages that Hinata, too. "Everyone gathered around telling the Jinchuriki how much they enjoy having a demon thing around. I haven't been this close to tears since the time I was slicing up onions for dinner."

Naruto glared at her. He jumped to his feet, stormed over to her bedside and grabbed her by the collar. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't rip your head off right now?"

"How about a magic trick?" Madara asked. She laughed, "I would, but I don't know any magic tricks. How about a bed time story? I'm sure you want to know more about your family, the Clan of Uzumaki and I am the only living person to know about them." She stopped and looked up in thought. "Well, maybe not the only one, but one of the few and the only one that is willing to tell you."

"Why would you tell us anything, anyways?" Sakura asked.

"I was under orders from Orochimaru to kill Naruto here, but now Orochimaru had been killed by Sasuke. As such, I have nothing better to do than tell you everything." Madara said.

"What? Orochimaru's dead?" Naruto asked.

"A little behind the times, aren't we? Yes, the Sannin is dead. And now Sasuke moves to strike Akatsuki, or more specifically Itachi." Madara rattled off.

"If you have information, spill it!" Naruto growled.

"Well, the story of the Uzumaki clan is intertwined within the history of the Uchiha Clan and the Leaf Village itself. So, gather round children. It's time for Auntie Madara to tell a story."


	22. Legend of Konoha and the Kyuubi

**Legend of Konoha and the Kyuubi**

Madara began her story.

"Are you aware of Jashin? Jashin, the evil god of death and mutilation, he grants his followers the gift of immortality so that they can fight forever and kill any opponent. Jashin is constantly in the search for a perfect vessel, much like Orochimaru's Immortality Jutsu. Jashin can switch bodies with anyone he sees fit to take, but he will settle for nothing short of perfection.

"So almost 200 years ago, Jashin bedded a woman from the Hyuuga Clan and she bore him twins. The eldest of which was named Madara. Madara the First. For the first many years, it appeared as if the Blood-Line of the Hyuuga had passed over the twins, even though they possessed incredible skills and abilities. But once they reached the age of 12, a power was unleashed within their eyes. Truth be told, the powers of Jashin combined with the Blood-Line of the Hyuuga and contorted it into a new, more powerful Kekkei- Genkai. The Sharingan.

"Upon seeing the power of the Sharingan, Jashin knew that he had finally found the perfect vessel for his soul in his own sons. When his sons were 18 years old, Jashin took the opportunity and tried to steal one of their bodies for himself, but he underestimated the strength of the boys. While they could never kill him, they put up more of a fight than he expected. During the fight, Madara accidentally killed his best friend while trying to attack Jashin. As he watched his friend die, the emotional torment caused a new power to awaken within him. His eyes changed into a much more powerful and destruction form, the Mangekyo Sharingan.

"With the destructive powers of the Mangekyo, Madara was able to force Jashin back and allowed him and his brother to escape. Now with the power of the Mangekyo, Jashin knew that his perfect vessel had become even more perfect. He would do anything his could to take the power of this new Kekkei-Genkai and make it his own.

"As his bother and he continued on an endless journey, Madara's eyes gradually became worse and worse. They soon learned that using the Mangekyo Sharingan causes the regular vision to become worse and worse. Each time Jashin came after them, Madara had to use the Mangekyo to fight back and each time it worsened his eyesight. Finally, his brother did the only thing he could do to help Madara. Madara's brother gouged out his own eyes and used them to replace Madara's worsening eyes. Not only did this help, but now Madara had the perfect Sharingan. All of the Mangekyo's strengths, none of its fallbacks.

"Each time Madara gained new power, it only confirmed to Jashin that this was his perfect vessel. Madara needed to find a way to defeat his father, so he turned to the only beings strong enough to hold their own against a god, the Tailed Demons. Madara went to the Tailed Beasts and tried to ask for their help. Disregarding his request, most of the "Demons simply turned him away or even attacked him. But the ninth tailed beast, the Kyuubi, was interested in the new and previously unseen power of this human. Deciding to take him up on his offer, the Kyuubi took Madara under her wing and taught him how to use the power of Fire Style Jutsu, specifically the Fire Ball Jutsu. She even allowed him access to her immense Chakra supply.

"Finally, with the combined power of the Perfect Mangekyo and the Chakra of the Nine-Tailed Fox, Madara fought with Jashin and finally succeeded with defeating Jashin and managed to seal him within a giant nine-eyed statue where he would remain forever, or until the seal and statue was broken.

"It was at this time that Madara the First took the surname 'Uchiha' after the paper fan used to fan flames."

Madara II sat back in her bed, she took a breath to rest a little bit. "Is everyone following me so far?" She asked.

By this point, most of the room was sitting around her in a half circle listening intensively.

"Good." She said. "Any questions, yet?"

"Are you saying that the first Uchiha was a demi-god?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yes, he was. Oh, but that's not the half of it. Do any of you know that the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon is actually female?" Madara asked.

"Huh?" A collective sound was heard across the room.

"That's right, the most powerful of the Tailed-Demons is a vixen. And do you know that the Tailed-Demons can all take human form? I don't just mean a Jinchuriki, I mean they can actually transform into a human. The Shukaku, his form was an old monk of the Sand.

"After the defeat of Jashin, The Kyuubi found she had fallen for Madara. She was in love with him, something forbidden for a Tailed-Demon. So, she took human form and married him in human form. She modified her Chakra so that it could be utilized and manipulated my the Sharingan. A matter of months later, she was pregnant. Yes, in human form the Fox can get pregnant. And she bore Madara a child. Over the coarse of the next few decades she continued to act as Madara's wife and through her, the Uchiha clan was formed. Over this time, Madara didn't age because Kyuubi had bestowed upon him the gift of partial immortality.

"Years past, and many other clans were also formed. The Inuzuka, Aburame, Yamanaka, Akimichi, Nara, Senju, and many, many others. Feuding began among the clans, and war broke out. It would be known to history as the First Great Ninja War. Of all the Clans, the Senju and the Uchiha stood out as the most powerful. If one side of a battle had the Uchiha on their side, the other side had the Senju.

"Eventually, the Senju and Uchiha clans choose to end the bloodshed. They joined together and declared the war over. After that, none of the other Ninja clans wanted to oppose them. Many of the clans actually joined them and together they formed a city-state separate from the ruling government of the country. They became Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

"When it came time to choose who should be the leader of this new village, the vote was almost unanimous. They choose Hashirama Senju, better known as the First Hokage. Madara Uchiha saw the decision of Hashirama as a danger to the Uchiha clan. He thought that the Uchiha would lose power and control. He opposed Hashirama, but even his own clan didn't back him up. They saw him as greedy and selfish, trying to take all the power for himself. In the end, he deserted the village and his clan to the Senju.

"Later, Madara Uchiha the First returned to the village seeking vengeance against Hashirama. His return circumvented in the Battle at the Valley of the End. During the Battle, Kyuubi finally revealed herself as the Nine-Tailed Fox and tried to attack Hashirama, only to learn of his powerful Kekki-Genkai that allowed him to control Tailed-Demons, thus rendering her useless. The battle ended with Hashirama winning, and Madara almost getting killed.

"Seeing her now as meaningless, Madara cursed her out and renounced her. She fled from him, realizing he never loved her, but only used her as a tool. Kyuubi fled into the forest. After nine months, she gave birth to Madara's last child. But she removed all traces of the Uchiha Kekki-Genkai from his blood. Even if she no longer loved Madara, she would still lover her child, but not as an Uchiha. The baby was given a new name, Uzumaki."

"The Uzumaki Clan remained separated and distant from the rest of the Ninja Clans and Hidden Villages, watched and guarded over by Kyuubi herself. They all possessed enormous amounts of Chakra, but aside from that were fully human. When a tailed-demon takes human form, they actually become human. Meaning that any child of a Bijuu's human shape is human, but with some of the demon's power.

"This hidden clan was secluded and unknown to the rest of the world until a young woman from the clan named Uzumaki Kushina made her way to the Hidden Leaf Village at the age of 12, where she first encountered a young academy graduate Minato Namikaze; the Fourth Hokage.

"Over time, Kushina traveled between her clan and the Leaf eventually becoming a Konoha Ninja herself. I actually knew her, she specialized in high Chakra level techniques, specifically the Shadow-Clone Jutsu. Over time at about the age of twenty, she finally became romantically involved with Minato. At this same time, Orochimaru defected from the Village and was defeated and cast out by Minato himself. I stayed behind as a spy for Orochimaru in the Leaf village. At about the same time that Minato was named 4th Hokage, Kushina became pregnant with their first and only child. Naruto.

"As Kushina's due date came closer, I received a message from Orochimaru. He had successfully joined Akatsuki and his final initiation from the Leader was the assassination of the mother of the 4th Hokage's child before she gave birth. Orochimaru ordered me to carry out this mission, I got the order the same day Kushina went into labor.

"After Naruto was born, an exhausted Kushina traveled back to her clan with her baby. I followed and once arriving, used my Sharingan to control the Kyuubi and used her to attack and destroy her own clan. Only Toribida, Kushina's childhood friend and midwife, escaped, taking Naruto back to the leaf village. Once Naruto was safely under the protection of his father, Toribida returned to stall me. She managed to hold me off long enough for my Sharingan to ware off and for my control over the Kyuubi to fade, although it cost her her life.

"Once released from my control, Kyuubi went back to Konoha to search for Naruto. The way she was stopped is common knowledge now, she was sealed by the 4th Hokage into the tiny body of baby Naruto. Thus concludes the tale of the Uzumaki clan."

Madara gasped for breath after this long story. 200 years of history told in about 20 minutes isn't easy. A stunned silence came over the Konoha eleven and company. A tale that stretched back hundred of years, history that no one had ever told them about, but which had shaped their lives so drastically.

_Everything she says is true._ Kushina said from to Naruto's mind. _Some of the details about me and Kushina are off, but that's because she doesn't know that Kushina Uzumaki and Kitsune no Kyuubi are one and the same. Aside from that, it is all true._

"It's all true." Naruto finally said. "The Fox just told me that everything she said was true."

"And it is." Madara said. "I don't know why the Akastuki Leader specifically wanted you and Kushina dead, but now it doesn't really matter."


	23. Inside her own Mind

**Inside her own mind**

The light of a near full moon shown down through the window of the hospital room where Madara Uchiha II lay in the bed adjacent to Hinata Hyuuga. Despite the thrashing Madara had received from the Jinchuriki earlier that day, she was in stable condition and would be just fine. At least until she healed. Then it was off to the interrogation division of the AMBU so that they could extract any information they could from her.

And that sadist, Ibiki, was sure to be there. Oh, joy.

Still, she couldn't stop thinking about the Jinchuriki. This kid, Naruto Uzumaki, he was different. Most hosts are shunned, despised, and generally hated by their peers, but this one was accepted even after she let the cat out of the bag and told them all what he was.

She had never met Naruto before this mission, but she had tried to kill him. She still remembered getting the mission from Orochimaru 16 years ago. Of course, she also got the exact same mission from her true master. Orochimaru was pathetic, even back then when she was not much older than Naruto is now. Madara II was loyal to no one other than another Uchiha, and another Uchiha sent her a message to kill the lover and the unborn son of the Fourth Hokage.

She remembered getting that message from her master.

_A messenger hawk landed on the window seal of her house. She had just taken the message off the hawk sent by Orochimaru when this second hawk showed up. Taking the message off its back she saw the Uchiha crest as well as a red cloud printed on the top of the paper._

_Unrolling it, she found it written:_

_Suki Uchiha,_

_I have had a disturbing vision of things to come. My Sharingan has revealed that a person will raise and could someday destroy us. This person will be the Hokage's son. He is dangerous and if left unchecked he could destroy us. His power might even equal mine. We can not allow this._

_The son of Namikaze must not become a ninja. I want you to make sure of this. Before he is born, kill him and the woman that carries him. To make sure he's dead, kill them all, all those associated with his mother and make sure none survive. After this is done, follow Orochimaru as his subordinate and take my name to be you given name. Leave the name of "Suki" behind. From now on, you will be the second Uchiha to carry the name "Madara."_

_Suki Uchiha put down the message. She almost couldn't conceive it, her master choosing to give her his name in exchange for this mission's completion. This was a major assignment, she had been ordered to kill the lover of her team mate. She had been with Minato and Unisha since they graduated from the academy and were placed under the command of Jiraiya-sensei. But now none of that mattered. Soon, she would leave this place and the name of Suki behind her. From this day forward she would be Madara Uchiha II._

That day seemed like a thousand years ago to her now. And this kid, Naruto. She had failed in her mission, twice. Not only that, but other things were moving into place now. Jiraiya had gone to the Land of Rain to seek out the Akatsuki leader and subsequently died. Now Naruto has gone to Mount Myoboku to train with the Toad Sages. If he masters that power in conjunction with the Demon power he really could be unstoppable.

But still, even if he did she doubted he would be a match for her master. He was the most powerful ninja of all. Compared to him, she herself would be no better equipped than a freshly graduated academy student.

/

Kyuubi/Kushina knelt in her cage with her son's head resting in her lap. He had fallen asleep after a hard day of training with the Toad Sages. She ran her fingers through his hair and over his face. True, he was 16 but he had never really felt anything like this and she never got the chance to. Her sweet baby boy. He had his father's hair and eyes. Most of his features were from his father.

Minato. The memory of him caused her heart to ache. She missed him, terribly. She had even given him partial immortality so that he would never age and live with her forever. But partial immortality is no substitute to complete immortality, he could still die. If fatally wounded in battle, or poisoned, or if he committed suicide he would die. And that's just what happened. She thought that after Naruto was born that she would live a fulfilled life with Minato and be able to raise a child with the man she loved and who loved her back.

But her past came back to haunt them and it ruined them. The Uchiha killed her lover, trapped her forever, and caused their son to live a life of torment. But she didn't hate them, the Uchiha were as much her progeny as they were Madara's. And this boy, Naruto Uzumaki was also her son.

_The morning after his birth, Naruto lay in a baby crib at the maternity ward. His mother firmly sealed in his body and the mark of the seal clearly visible on his stomach. He cried. No one came. The nurses purposefully stayed away, only going to him when they had to feed him and change him. Other than that, they stayed away. The one lonely baby in the hospital without a mother or father to watch over him._

_The door to the baby room creaked open and in walked Fugaku Uchiha, head of the Uchiha Clan. He walked through the rows of other sleeping babes until he came to the bed in which Naruto slept. The wriggling and squirming baby cried as Fugaku stood over him. He raised his hand over the child and brought it down towards its throat. Fugaku knew what had to be done, the demon had to be destroyed and now was the perfect opportunity. It was defenseless, no one was around, plus no one would care._

_His hand came down till it was right by the baby's neck when a hand made of what appeared to be red Chakra shot up from the baby and caught him by the wrist, burning into his skin. Fugaku cried out in pain and yanked his hand back. He watched as the red Chakra continued to pour out of this tiny baby's body and form around him. The Chakra lifted Naruto up and held him. It took the basic shape of a woman holding her baby in her hands close to her heart._

_Two eyes appeared where the head should be, red eyes with black slits down the middle just like the eyes of the Nine Tailed Fox. Fugaku remembered, he had fought the demon last night along with many other ninja. "You will not touch him." A woman's voice said sternly. "This child is under my protection."_

_Fugaku sneered and stepped away. He made his way back to the door and left. Kyuubi cuddled Naruto against the breast of her Chakra form and the baby quieted down. He just snuggled up against her, even though she wasn't really there._

_The door opened again and this time Tsunade and Jiraiya stepped in. Tsunade gasped in surprise at the sight she beheld, the silhouette form of Kushina made of the red Chakra of the Fox holding the baby Naruto. Jiraiya was almost as surprised. "What is going on here?" Tsunade asked._

"_Leave me alone with him." Kushina said. "Soon the seal will become stronger and then I won't be able to hold him again for almost a full year." Her speech become more and more choked as the lump in her throat grew._

_Tsunade was about to object when Jiraiya placed his hand on her shoulder. "Alright, Kushina. We'll leave you with him." He tugged on Tsunade and they both stepped outside._

_Kushina could still hear them talking outside. "Jiraiya, was that really Kushina!? Is she the Nine Tailed Fox!?"_

"_Tsunade, please be quiet. She can hear you, you know." Jiraiya said._

"_You knew about it didn't you?" Tsunade said. "Why didn't you do anything?"_

"_She loved Minato, and he loved her back. No one can tell you who to fall in love with, and I didn't want to ruin it for them. You saw how happy they were together, remember?"_

"_Yes, I remember. But still, did he know what she was?" Tsunade asked._

"_He found out the same time I did, it was an accident. She lost control and changed back in order to protect him. He knew she was a tailed demon, and he didn't care. He loved her long before seeing that told me that he wanted to tell her. Whether she was a demon or not didn't matter." Jiraiya said. "There love was mutual." Jiraiya stepped past Tsunade and started to walk away, then stopped and turned back around. "By the was, Tsunade, they named me the godfather. And named you as the godmother. Keep that in mind."_

Kushina stroked Naruto's hair as he lay on her lap. His hand tugged at her dress as he snuggled up tighter against her. She leaned over and kissed the top of his head. She knew it wouldn't last. This only worked in his mind, this part of him that she could hold and touch was only his mental self, not his physical self.

She didn't care. Now her baby knew who she was and she didn't have to fake being a monster anymore. Now she could be the one thing he always needed, a mother.


	24. Pain, Death, Destruction, and Escape

**Pain, Death, Destruction, and Escape**

The day had dawned. It had dawned hours ago and the sun was now high in the sky. The bright sunlight shown down through the hospital window and into Madara Uchiha II's eyes. Mentally, the countdown in her head continued to lower. She sighed, soon. Sometime today in fact, if what her master said was true.

She sat up and looked over at Hinata, the young heir to the Hyuuga clan in the bad adjacent to hers. The girl who had so willingly jumped from the balcony and into the fray to try and help Naruto. No words had passed between them for the whole of time they had been in this room together. Their injuries were almost completely healed as well, and not a moment too soon Madara thought.

She looked out the window. "Three, Two, One." She said.

From outside, and explosion rocked the earth and slip the air. Orange and red flames blasted into the air surrounded by black smoke. Madara smiled. Hinata jus starred out in horror.

"Perfect timing." Madara threw the sheets off and yanked the IV needle out of her arm. She got rid of the hospital gown and pulled back on her normal attire of a black tube top with the Uchiha crest on the back and short black shorts. "I knew I could count on Pain's attack." Strapping her sword across her back, she leapt out the window and made her way toward the edge of the village.

As she ran, she caught sight of some of the Leaf Ninja combating the various bodies of the Akatsuki leader and his partner. She could hear cries of pain and explosions throughout the village, but the Konoha shinobi where too busy to notice her and she managed to make it out of the village without anyone noticing.

She moved through the woods outside the village, jumping from tree branch to tree branch putting as much distance between her and the village. That is until she felt the Chakra presence of another. A Chakra level so great that it even surpassed the level of the Kyuubi kid, Naruto. And strange, she had just barely noticed it even though it was so close. Chakra that strong should be noticeable from a mile away but she couldn't sense it until it was less than one hundred feet away.

She stopped and clutched the hilt of her katana. "Show yourself. I know your there."

"So, Suki. That old technique of sensing Chakra hasn't diminished. It has been a while since you last saw me in person." Leaping though the trees came another shinobi with black spiky hair dressed in the Akatsuki robe with an orange spiral mask over his entire face except for his right eye.

He landed on the tree in front of her and stopped. "Who are you?" Madara II asked.

"I guess that's right. You haven't seen this disguise of mine. This alias's name is Tobi." Tobi reached up and grabbed the mask, pulling it away.

As Suki laid eyes on Tobi's face, she dropped to her knees and bowed in submission. "Master Madara." She said.

Madara the first slipped his mask back in place and then raised his hand. "Rise, Suki Uchiha." Suki got back to her feet , but made sure to keep her head lower then his. "The mission Orochimaru sent you on to kill Naruto has failed. It's a good thing it did."

"Yes, Master." Suki replied.

"The Demon Fox is necessary for what I have planned. It cannot be allowed to die." Madara said.

"That is why I purposefully held back the bulk of my power during my fight with Naruto. I only used maybe 20 percent of my full strength." Suki Uchiha said. Madara moved the distance between him and Suki in less than a second and slapped her across the face. He hit her with such force that she lost her footing and twisted though the air to the ground.

Suki crashed to the ground in a sprawl and started to pick herself up again when Madara came down and landed next to her. "You insolent, weak, stupid fool! At the Kyuubi boy's current strength, 20 percent of your power could've killed him! I told you we need him alive. 10 percent would've been a better estimate."

"I apologize, Master." Suki said, bowing her head in respect.

Madara turned away and looked up at the billows of smoke coming from the Leaf Village. "I guess it doesn't matter now. I have a new assignment for you."

/////////////////////////////////////////////

Naruto slept. A long day of training with the toad sages had taken it's toll on him. Currently, the ability to merge with the toads to complete the Sage Transformation was in complication. Kushina knew this, her chakra and her son's demon heritage conflicted with the toads and pretty much prevented merging.

At about this time of year the seal would normally lock her mind away. The seal is weakest around Naruto's birthday and as such her memories would slip through and that would be why he had dreams, but now that Naruto knows the truth she could give him her thoughts and show him his past. As was what she intended to do.

_/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////_

_She had put up her masquerade of being a 10 year old girl from the Whirlpool village. Her human name was Kushina Uzumaki, she had long red hair the same color as her fur. From all appearances she was a normal little girl, the only real sign to state otherwise was her eyes. Still red and silted. They were the only thing she couldn't change. Still, these newly graduated Genin didn't really notice._

"_Kushina, meet my squad!" The one with yellow spiky hair said. His name, Namikaze Minato. Of the three, she found him to be the least annoying. "This big guy is Unisha Kenodo, and the Kunoichi of our group is Suki Uchiha."_

"_Hey," Suki waved. She leaned against a tree and looked up at the sky annoyed. "So, Minato, you got a girlfriend?"_

"_She's not my girlfriend!" Minato shouted._

"_I'm not his girlfriend!" Kushina shouted._

_Unisha laughed, falling over in the process._

"_Come on, fatso. I didn't think it was that funny." Suki said in her usual deadpan voice. She sighed and looked down a her watch. "I hate it when Jiraiya-sensei is late. We all know what he's doing when he's late. Peeking in the woman's bath house. Again."_

"_Hey, guys. Why Don't we just get out of here? We know Sensei won't be here for a few more hours.." Unisha said._

"_Fine." Suki said, pulling shuriken from her leg holster. "You know my favorite game. It's called dodge." She threw the shuriken at Unisha. He screamed and threw himself at the ground as the shuriken whizzed over his head. "You've gotten better, fatty. This time you didn't get hurt. Last time we played this game you wound up in the hospital."_

"_I don't like this game." Unisha shouted, pushing the upper part of his body off the ground._

_Kushina placed her hand to her mouth and giggled. Humans. They were always so amusing._

"_Come on. Why Don't you two try and catch me instead?" Minato suggest. "As of yet, neither of you are as fast as me."_

"_Please, Minato. I'm an Uchiha, the greatest Clan in the village and possibly the world. Anything you do, I'm better at."_

"_Oh, really?" Minato crotched to the ground and then jumped away toward the village. He leapt from building to building, putting distance between him and his teammates._

_Suki Uchiha grinned. She ran after him and jumped up to the buildings as well. Unisha groaned. "Aaaawwwww. I hate this, too. They're both just so much faster than me."_

_Kushina placed her hands together and popped her knuckles. Then in a flash, she sped off into the village moving so fast that the only thing left in her wake was a trail of dust._

_Minato and Suki jumped from roof top to roof top after each other. "You still can't catch me, Suki!" Minato yelled._

"_Just wait, Namikaze! I'm catching up!" Suki shouted back._

_Just then the dust cloud came up from behind them at an amazing pace. Minato hardly had time to cover his eyes before the cloud engulfed him. Suki stopped and stood up on the roof of a nearby building looking down where her squad member would be. As the dust started to settle, she saw Minato laying flat on his stomach with Kushina standing over him, her foot on his head._

"_I win!" Kushina shouted._

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Rain drummed down on Suki Uchiha's (Madara II) head. It was always raining here. After all, that was why it was called the Land of Rain. Her master had sent her on a very important mission. It regarded the Akatsuki Figurehead, Pain. According to what her master told her, Pain must be killed.


	25. To Cut off Pain and Change Leaders

**To Cut off Pain and Change Leaders**

Madara II stepped casually into the tower in the Land of Rain. She slid the blade of her Katana across the top of its scabbard, wiping the blood and gore off. Behind her, the various guards positioned to watch the tower lay in pieces and their blood mingled with the water as it fell from the sky. They called themselves shinobi. Please, she had a more difficult time fighting the waterfall Genin during the chunin exams. That might be because she only used 5 percent of her power fighting those genin, but that was beside the point.

After she got the last of the blood off her sword, she put it back in the sheath. The tower was dark and musky. Uncomfortable, muggy, like she was drowning in the heavy air. Must be all the rain outside. Why anyone ever decided to settle in this part of the world, Madara would never know. And the fact that it was settled between three of the Great Five Nations didn't help.

Nor did it matter at the moment. Right now, her master wanted one simple job accomplished. She walked deeper and deeper into the tower, and it got darker and darker with every echoing step. She activated her Sharingan to see, otherwise, she would be blind in this pitch blackness. Toward the very top of the tower was a room sealed off with various sealing Jutsu and traps. Easy enough to get through. Behind it, in the very last room was a machine with six open body capsules, and a seventh one with a body lying peacefully in it.

Madara smiled and walked over to this last causal and rubbed off the mist and dust that had collected on it. Underneath was a man with black hair that reached down past his shoulders and even far past his hands. He hasn't left this causal in years. Hid body was hooked up to life support systems that monitored his breathing, heart rate, and other various bodily functions.

Nagato. A child of the Rain Village who was orphaned during the second Great Ninja War and left to die until Madara former sensei, Jiraiya, found him with two other children; Konan and Yahiko, and discovered Nagato's special ability-the Rinnin'gan. The original eye technique that is more powerful than either the Byakugan or the Sharingan. The first man to have the Rinnin'gan used it to create ninjutsu and founded the ninja world, granted most of his Jutsu are now academy level techniques.

Madara leaned against the glass and sighed. "I almost feel sorry for you," she said, "you think of yourself as a god, but here I have to kill you while you sleep. Nothing personal, in fact I don't even think I've ever really met you. But Master Madara wants you dead. No, not me, I don't really care if you die or not. Madara the First, also known as Tobi.

"Strange how things work out, isn't it? When your body became comatose, your friend, Yahiko, offered his body to you and after you took it you wanted more. You stole the bodies of six other people, granted they were dead.

"Now, you found another way to cheat death. Even of all of your bodies are killed in the battlefield, as long as this one stays alive you're fine. Just need a few more bodies and you're back in the game. But you became so self confident, that you forgot to look after your real body. Those all seeing eyes missed your own weakness.

"You became a great asset to Akatsuki, standing in as a figurehead while my master worked in the background. And for a while, things went fine. Then, unfortunately, you started to get a big head. You became bloated, and started to develop plans of your own. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Problematic. Can't have that. You started to think that you could take the power of the nine demons for your own, turn against Madara and destroy him. No one can destroy him.

"Heh, why and I saying this? You can't hear me in their, you can't hear anything. I guess, I'm just a sucker for monologues." Suki pulled her katana from the sheath and smashed the glass of the holding pod with the blunt end of the hilt. A cloud of steam poured out into the cold air. Immediately the life support systems started beeping madly. The heart rate sped up and the breathing became erratic. Suki raised her sword over Nagato's neck. "Like I said, nothing personal." With one downward slash, she removed Nagato's head from his shoulders.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Naruto had his arms locked back in a full nelson, his power being siphoned away by the Absorption Pain. The Deva Pain stood before him. "Finally," Pain said. "We have the Nine-Tailed Fox."

Naruto had returned to Konoha as soon as he got the message about Pain's attack. Luckily, he had managed to find a way to absorb Natural Sage Energy and in the fight with Pain, Naruto had killed four of them. Still, it wasn't enough. Konoha had been all but abolished. Kakashi had died in the fight, as well as many others. And all for nothing. Naruto, with all his newfound strength, still couldn't manage to defeat the Akatsuki leader.

Pain grabbed Naruto's throat and started to squeeze, cutting off Naruto's air supply. "Don't worry, I won't kill you. I need you alive long enough to extract the Kyuubi from you. So I'll keep you alive, but barely."

Then, all of a sudden, the two remaining Pain bodies started to spasm. Their heads jolted back and forth as well as having foamy saliva drip from their mouth's. Their eyes glossed over and rolled back into their heads as they collapsed. Naruto just stood dumbfounded, looking down at the two bodies. "What the hell was that?" he whispered.

"Naruto!!" Sakura shouted. She came running out of the rubble to his side. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything. He just killed over." Naruto answered. "Sakura, how is everybody? Can you get to them?"

"Oh, no. Lady Tsunade!" Sakura ran back into the rubble and destruction. "Lady Tsunade!!" She found her. "No!! Lady Tsunade!!" The Hokage had died. She had channeled all her remaining strength through Katsuya to save the villagers, all at the cost of her life. Sakura placed her hands of the Hokage and tried administering medical ninjutsu. Everything she could, but it did no good. Tears welled in her eyes and fell to the ground.

Sakura felt a hand on her shoulder. "Sakura" Naruto said, "come on. We have work to do." Sakura nodded and wiped her eyes. "Yamato!" Naruto shouted. "Yamato-sensei, are you around here?"

"Yeah!" Yamato emerged out of the dust.

"How much strength do you have left?" Naruto asked.

"What do you need?"

"Can you make a makeshift hospital? Big enough for all the injured." Naruto said.

"I'll try." Yamato said.

"Okay. Hinata!! Neji!! Where are you?!" Naruto called.

"Here, Naruto." Hinata's voice called.

"Naruto!" Neji shouted back.

Naruto ran over to them, pulling the teleportation kunai from the holster. Once he got to them, he handed them the kunai. "Guys, I need you to use your Byakugan to find all the most injured in the village. Once you find them, throw the Kunai next to them. Understand?"

"Got it." Neji said.

"I understand, Naruto." Hinata replied.

"Good. Yamato, how's that shelter coming?" Naruto asked.

"It's finished." Yamato called back.

"Alright!! I need as many medical ninja that can still perform Jutsu to go to Yamato! Everyone who can still stand and carry, bring the injured to that shelter!!" Naruto shouted.

Steadily, people began to move. Sakura, Ino, and other medical ninja moved to the shelter Yamato made and began to treat the injured which was flooding in. Hinata and Neji found the most seriously injured and placed the Thunder God kunai next to them, allowing Naruto to teleport to them and bring them to the makeshift Hospital faster.

The hours waned on later and later into the day. The sun was almost completely set by the time everyone was in stable condition. Sakura stepped out from the shelter, wiping the sweet from her brow. She was down right exhausted. As she looked around, she spotted Naruto sitting on the ground. She could admit to herself, that new coat, the long red coat with black flame trim and the black fox paw print on the back did look good on him. It reminded her of someone, no one she knew, but an image that everyone of the village recognize as the cloak of Yondaime Hokage.

"Naruto, everyone is safe." Sakura called.

"Good. That's good." Naruto collapsed backwards to the ground.

Sakura rushed over to him, only to hear him snoring. She breathed a sigh of relief, he had only passed out. No wonder, after fighting Pain that way and then using the Flying Thunder God to save so many people, it was only reasonable for him to be tired.

"It'd be best not to awaken him." Sai said, as he came up. "After such a feat, he needs to rest. He showed some exemplary leadership skills today. Did they ever make a decision on whether or not to promote him after the Chunin Exams?"

"They did say that granting him Chunin status was almost a given, but it's a moot point now." Sakura said. "I would've still pushed for the Junín position, but now…I still don't believe entirely everything that's happened recently. The appearance of this Madara II, Naruto's connection to the 4th hokage, this attack and almost complete destruction of the village. It's too much. This is all too much to deal with."

"Don't feel to down on yourself, Sakura." Yamato said, stepping out of the shelter. "Things may seem bad, but I believe you and Naruto are more than capable to dealing with this. Kakashi had faith in you. As did Jiraiya and Tsunade. And so do I."


	26. Captured

**Captured**

Naruto awoke as the rays of sunlight fell over the mountain tops and into the valley where the village once sat. He rubbed his eyes and got to his feet. He brushed the dust off himself and looked around. The one still standing figure was the makeshift hospital Yamato-sensei had constructed last night. Naruto walked over to it and once inside saw the various medical Ninja hard at work treating the injured.

"Sakura!" Naruto called as he saw the pink-haired Kunoichi rushing along. "can I talk with you?"

"Busy right now, Naruto!" Sakura called back.

"Sakura, how long till we can move these people?" Naruto asked.

"No time soon." Sakura said. "Many of them are still in very bad condition. Why? Where do you think you are moving them to?"

"We can't stay here. We need to get these people some real medicine and treatment. I think the best choice would be to try to get them to Suna. Get them into a real hospital." Naruto said.

"Yeah, if you could get them there. It's a three day trip at the speed shinobi travel, and these people are in no condition to go that far." Sakura responded

"And if we don't move them they may die. We have to do something." Naruto reasoned.

"You think I don't know that? I'm the best medic in this village with Tsunade-sama gone, and I know better than anyone in this village the possibility of them dying. I just don't know what can be done." Sakura's voice noticeably cracked, just a little barely enough for Naruto to hear. Probably for good reason, both of Sakura's sensei had just been killed in the space of a day by the same Akatsuki.

Naruto could relate, one of those teachers was his teacher as well. And he remembered how it felt when he was told of Jiraiya's passing. The coupled deaths of Tsunade and Kakashi must be a lot measuring on Sakura's mind, plus the responsibility of caring for all the people injured during Pains attack.

"Why not take a different approach," Yamato-sensei said as he stepped into the makeshift hospital. "Instead of bringing the patients to Suna, why not bring equipment and medical personal from Suna to the patients? That way there is no danger to the patients themselves and they can be given access to medical care that could possibly save their lives."

"Actually, that is a better idea. Why didn't I think of it?" Naruto exclaimed.

"Because, you're an idiot." Sakura dryly commented. "So do we have a plan?"

"I think it's safe to say we do. We need help from Suna, and once we get these people back on their feet, we can move them there for better safety." Yamato said.

"I should be one of those to go to Suna." Sakura said. "I can tell them what we need in detail and make sure we get it."

"What about the people here, with you gone who can take care of them?" Yamato asked.

"Ino is a pretty good medic. Not as good as me, but pretty good." Sakura said with a hint of sadistic intent. "She should be able to keep everyone from dying for about a week."

"HEY!" Ino shouted from a distance in the hospital shack.

"There's still another problem." Naruto spoke up. "Madara Uchiha II escaped during the attack and we don't know where she went. She still presents a threat."

"True." Yamato said. "But with Orochimaru dead, Madara II doesn't have a master to follow or a mission to kill you anymore."

"She could still have connections to or be a source of information regarding Akatsuki. If she worked for Orochimaru over 16 years ago, that was the same time Orochimaru was in Akatsuki. It might be a good idea to look for her." Naruto suggested.

"That's not the real reason you want to find her, is it?" Yamato said. "You think she withheld information about your family and your past. What if she did? Will you hunt for her yourself and beat the information out of her yourself? The last time you almost got killed."

"I don't care. I need to find her. And if I have to I'll beat the information out of her." Naruto slammed his fists together.

"That'll have to wait for later." Yamato said.

"I know. Right now, we need to concentrate on helping these people. Sakura, do you think you can make it to Suna and back in time to get medical supplies?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, if I move right now. I'll have to get some provisions for the trip, but I'll be on my way as soon as I can." Sakura replied.

///////////////////////////////////////////////

Suki pulled the sleeves of the robes over her arms and shoulders. This cloak felt smothering and confining. She moved her arms and legs around to get a feel for it before shrugging it off. "Do I have to wear this?" She asked.

"Yes, you do. At the moment we have run short of members. I need all the manpower I can get right now." A voice answered back. Standing in the doorway, Madara the First leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. He still wore the spiral face mask even though all surviving members already knew who he was. "You are to Akatsuki and you will wear that cloak."

"But it's so cumbersome. It restricts my movements and hinders my abilities in battle. Maybe that's why so many members have died." _Plus it looks entirely ridiculous. Seriously, for a secret organization wouldn't wearing the exact same uniforms kind of give them away?_ This thought she kept to herself. No sense angering the invincible original Uchiha. "And maybe if you hadn't decided to have Pain killed off, you wouldn't be so sort on manpower. He could've still been useful."

"And dangerous. He was getting too ambitious. Too sure of himself and his powers. The Rinnin'gan is not something I would've wanted to contend against. In my weakened state even I wouldn't have been able to defeat that without assistance. Besides, with your power I don't need Pain. Now put the cloak back on." Madara the First commanded.

"Fine." Suki tied the sleeves around her waist and let the rest fall behind her. "There, its on."

"I guess that works." Madara pushed away from the wall and stepped away. "I have a new assignment for you and your new partner."

//////////////////////////////////////////////////

Sakura moved from tree to tree with Sai, Naruto, and Yamato-sensei accompanying her. Returning with her from the Suna were several other medics and a supply carrier. This was the fifth day since leaving Konoha. The village was within sight. "We're almost there!" she shouted.

"Alright!" Yamato-sensei replied. As they continued to move forward, Yamato's head shot up, something changed just then. "Sakura! Look out!"

A paper bomb went off in front of them, knocking Sakura out of the air and causing the tree it was on to come crashing to the ground. Naruto held his arms over his eyes, blocking the smoke. "What was that?"

"Paper bomb! Someone has been expecting us!" Yamato exclaimed. A sound similar to a book blown in the wind came up around them and suddenly Yamato was encased in hundreds of sheets of paper. Holding his arms down tight against his body. "Paper!?"

"I remember from Pain's attack there was a Kunoichi who used paper to fight." Sai suggested. Sheets of paper began to encompass him as well. Quickly he pulled out his calligraphy brush and drew the image of a dog on one of the pieces of paper. Quickly he made the hand-signs before his hands were too encompassed. "Beast drawing mimicry Jutsu!" The dog slid off the page and moved swiftly, tracking the scent of the attacker. "Follow as best as possible!"

Naruto moved fast, slipping past the paper sheets that advanced for him. He followed the dog drawing and soon a female Akatsuki with a paper flower in her blue hair appeared before him. "I found her!" Suddenly, a sharp kick from the side knocked him to the ground. As well, he heard the dog drawing cry out in pain before being silenced.

"Hello, again. Kyuubi boy." The voice was familiar. Too familiar. The voice filled him with boiling rage which he felt could melt lead. Naruto stood up and glared at the voice's owner. Madara Uchiha II.

Madara II smiled down at Naruto, her sword braced over her shoulder and her new Akatsuki cloak tied around her waist flowing in the wind. "I see you've got a new long coat as well. Very reminiscent of Minato." She stated, noticing Naruto's red coat with black flame trim. "Oh, I'm sure he would be proud of you. A little clone."

"Don't disgrace his name with your tongue!" Naruto hissed.

"Can't I talk about my former team mate without your permission? How rude. Such a mean little brat you've become." Madara II snidely commented. "As you can see, I've grown board of status quo so I decided to join Akatsuki. They were even kind enough to team me up with the only other current women on the team. However, these cloaks are quite annoying."

"So now your back to finish the job and bring me to you boss again? don't you know the Akatsuki leader is dead?" Naruto shouted.

"You thought Pain was the Leader? Strong? Yes. Leadership skills? Yes. Akatsuki leader? No. He was a fall guy, a decoy. The real leader is far more powerful. And to answer your first question, no. We're not after you right now." Madara II jumped down from the tree and landed next to Sakura, who was just starting to get up. Madara grabbed Sakura by the collar and lifted her into the air. "This is today's target."

"Sakura?" Naruto asked in shock.

"Let go of me, you bitch!" Sakura pulled her hand back and concentrated her chakra to her fist.

"Can't have that." Madara jabbed her index and middle fingers sharply into Sakura's shoulder. Then with three more jabs hit Sakura's other shoulder and both sides of her hips. Sakura cried out in pain. "Painful, isn't it? Do you find it hard to manipulate Chakra now? Kind of tough with your chakra points blocked."

"What? You hit the chakra points? I thought only the Hyuuga clan could do that." Sakura cried out.

"And the Uchiha are descended from the Hyuuga, remember?" Madara replied. "And you're right, the Sharingan cannot see the chakra network, and I don't know Gentle Fist style. That doesn't stop a person from memorizing the locations of the chakra points." _Even of the only ones I have memorized are the ones at the shoulders and hips._ Sheets of paper collected around Sakura and began to wrap her up. She struggled in vain.

Naruto charged towards Madara, concentrating his chakra into a rotating ball in his hand. He added his wind element chakra and a shuriken shape surrounded the chakra ball. The Rasen-Shuriken. He threw the Rasen-Shuriken (yes, he can do that now. It's in the manga) with all his might. Madara cast Sakura to the ground and leapt into the air, dodging the attack. She came back down and slammed her high heels into Naruto's face. He smashed back into the ground.

"You advanced the Rasengan even greater than Minato did. Congratulations. However, it probably would've been more effective if you had used it in conjuncture with the Flying Thunder God. Next time, try not to over react." Madara condoned.

"What…what do you want with Sakura?" Naruto asked, pushing himself off the ground.

"She's important to you, that's always a start. Besides, she is an excellent medic who knows every working of the human body and can create poisons and antidotes better that Sasori ever could. That combined with her precise Chakra control and ungodly strength makes her a prime target. My Master will be much pleased."

"And who would that be?" Naruto asked.

"Who else? Madara Uchiha the first." Madara II replied.

Sakura, now totally bundled up in paper, was lifted up trough the air towards Konan and Madara. "We'll be taking our leave now. The paper will stay until we're far out of reach. If you try to follow, Naruto, your friends will be crushed to death." With that, Madara and Konan left, taking Sakura with them.


	27. Choose a Side

**Choose a Side**

Madara II and Konan returned to the Akatsuki lair, keeping Sakura tightly bound. Occasionally they stopped to re-block the chakra points. Upon arriving, they took Sakura deep into the dark caverns of their lair. Madara glanced around quickly before calling out.

"Master Madara!" She called. "We have brought the girl!"

The air in front of them swirled and twisted, the center of the twisting formed the eyehole of a spiral orange mask. An Akatsuki with short spiky black hair wearing the mask appeared literally out of thin air. "Why are you screaming, Suki? I'm right here."

Suki (Madara II) dropped to her knee and lowered her head in reverence. "I apologize, Master."

"However, you did succeed in your mission this time. Well done. Now take the girl to the one who requested her." Madara said.

"Yes, sir." Suki stood back up ad grabbed Sakura by the collar, dragging her across the floor. "Come along, girly."

As Suki dragged Sakura up a flight of stairs, Sakura struggled and fought every step of the way. "Let me go, you bitch!"

"I'd beat you upside the head if it weren't for the person who requested you wanting you unharmed." Suki murmured.

"Dragging me up stairs isn't harmed?" Sakura retorted.

"You're not fatally injured, so no."

"Who wants me anyway?" Sakura demanded.

Suki came to a door at the top of the stairs and pulled it open. "You'll see." She tossed Sakura in the room with a light heave. "Your delivery is here." She said before slamming the door closed.

Sakura groaned in pain. She had landed on her shoulder, bruising the bone. "Sakura." A voice said. Sakura gasped and looked up in shock. No way, it couldn't be! Impossible! But her eyes did not fool her. Sitting on a bed against the far wall, was Sasuke. He leaned against the wall with his legs pulled up on the bed and rested his hands on his knees. Draped over his shoulders was a black cloak with an overly high collar and red clouds sewn all over it. An Akatsuki cloak. He sighed. "I told them to bring you here unharmed." He got off the bed and walked casually over to the bound Sakura. With a single quick movement, he unsheathed his sword and sliced though the paper holding her down before re-sheathing the blade. "Even so, I am happy you're here Sakura."

"Sasuke! What are you doing here?! Why are you wearing that!? Why are…" Sakura trailed off, tears beginning to well in her eyes. "Why are you…" Water streamed down her cheeks. She buried her face in her arms, weeping. Sasuke knelt down to her and pulled off his cloak, laying it across her shoulders.

Sakura jumped up, throwing the cloak off and taking a swing at Sasuke's head. Sasuke ducked and jumped back as Sakura stood up and took another swing at him. Sasuke stepped back from each failed punch, not batting an eyelash. Once he reached a wall, be braced against it with chakra and jumped over her head, landing behind her. "Sakura, why are you attacking me? I merely offered you comfort."

"I take no comfort in the idea that you have joined Akatsuki! Why did you do it, Sasuke!? You still haven't answered why you left us! Why you left me!"

"To get my revenge. I sought to kill Itachi and avenge my fallen clan. And I succeeded. Itachi is dead." Sasuke replied. "But I was a fool."

"What?" Sakura asked.

"Itachi was not the real villain behind everything. He wasn't the one who killed my clan, true he carried out the action, but he was ordered to by the Konoha elders." Sasuke said.

Sakura gripped up her fist and swung at Sasuke's head again. "Who told you that bull-crap lie!? Why would Konoha order the execution of a clan?"

"They were afraid of us, my clan. The power of the Uchiha was too great for them to control. They felt that the attack of the Nine-Tailed fox was the fault of an Uchiha." Sasuke said.

"It was. That woman out there, Madara Uchiha II forced the Fox to attack!" Sakura shouted.

"She did so under orders from Orochimaru, because he was upset over losing the position of Fourth Hokage. But the Elders thought it was the work of the entire clan, not a defector. Did you ever wonder why the Uchiha clan was locked off in the far corner of the village? It was so that they could keep their eye on us and systematically control my people." Sasuke explained. "But do you think the Uchiha would be controlled and segregated against so easily? No, the clan was to get their vengeance against the village. A coup was planned, but stopped by the village spy, Itachi. They forced my brother to kill his entire family, everyone he ever cared for!" He shouted angrily.

"Sasuke, snap out of it! You've been brain washed!!" Sakura exclaimed.

"I'm thinking clearly for the first time in a long time, Sakura." Sasuke pulled down the collar of his shirt. "See, the Curse Mark is gone. Itachi removed it before he died. He sacrificed everything for those vile people, and without any sort of gratification or recognition. I won't let them get away with this. All of Konoha will die by my hand!"

Sakura only looked back at him in horror. She couldn't believe this was the same Sasuke who was once part of her team, her nakama. "Sasuke." she whispered. "After all we've tried to do for you, Naruto, Kakashi and I have done to try and help you, you're going to destroy all that we care for? You'll kill us now?"

"Not you, Sakura. You have done nothing wrong. In fact, I want you to join me." Sasuke grabbed Sakura's hand.

Sakura yanked her arm back. "What are you talking about?!"

"You once told me, you would give up everything just to be with me. It's true, you and Naruto have spent so much time and energy for me. I won't let that be in vain. Sakura, I want to be with you. I want you to be by my side, righting this wrong." Sasuke said.

"And what of everything else? The village, there are good people there. Are you going to kill them, too? And what about Naruto? Are you going to kill him for the Kyuubi like the Akatsuki do?!" Sakura shouted.

"No, I will not kill Naruto. I want to save him." Sasuke said.

"Save him?"

"He spent so much time trying to save me, I want to return the favor. You know, Sakura, Naruto was hurt and abused by the villagers whenever they could get away with it. All the hardship in his life stems from the Nine-Tailed Fox sealed in him. I want to remove his burden." Sasuke explained.

"If you take the demon, it'll kill him!" Sakura yelled.

"I found a way around it. I can remove the Kyuubi without killing him. Sakura, think about it. All of his pain, his anguish, his deep hidden pain that he can't share will finally be gone. You and I can give him a new chance at life." Sasuke said. "He's already done so much for us, shouldn't we repay him?"

"By joining a band of murderers and criminals?" Sakura asked, desperately.

"It's the only way."

"I can't. I can't betray the village like that!" Sakura screamed. Sasuke grabbed her by the arms and pulled her in close against him. He pressed his lips against hers in a passionate kiss. Sakura was caught off guard. Fully caught in the moment, not understanding. Sasuke slowly pulled away and saw Sakura's stunned and slightly red face. "We can be together, not just as friends. You once told me that you loved me, do you still love me? Are you still willing to do anything for me? Or for Naruto's sake?" Sasuke loosened his hold on her and walked towards the door. "I'll give you until tomorrow to decide." Sasuke closed the door behind him, leaving Sakura to her thoughts.

Sasuke walked down the corridor until he was far enough away that Sakura wouldn't be able to hear him. "You were listening in, weren't you?" He turned around and placed one hand on his hip. "Madara?"

Madara II stepped out of the shadows and smiled, crossing her arms. "You are such a Casanova. Messing with a young girls heart like that." Madara II laughed. "Do you think you'll convince her?"

"It's only a matter of time. She'll follow me to the ends of the earth if I asked." Sasuke replied.

"You don't really have a way to extract the Kyuubi without killing Naruto, do you?" Madara II asked.

"No, I don't. It doesn't matter. By the time we get to that point, Sakura will completely be devoted to me again. Naruto won't even matter to her."

"Why not just use Tsukuyomi on her and control her?"

"Mind control only works for so long and has weaknesses. I want her to be fully devoted to me by her own free will." Sasuke turned his back and continued to walk away. "And Suki," he called back, "if you hurt her in any way, I'll kill you."

"Oh, still harbor true feelings for her?" Madara II snidely asked. Sasuke did not answer. He continued to walk away into the darkness.


	28. Pieces in Motion

**Pieces In Motion**

Naruto, Sai, and Yamato returned to the remains of the village with the medics from Suna. "Hurry, we need to get to the medics to the injured!" Naruto shouted. He pointed to the makeshift hospital. "This way!"

As they came to the entrance, Ino pushed the curtain in place of a proper door aside and allowed the sand ninja inside. Naruto and company followed behind them. Ino glanced over the team and noticed their missing team member. "Guys, where's Sakura?"

Naruto stared at the ground, hiding his face. He clenched his fists just as he looked up. "The Akatsuki captured her."

Ino gasped. "Sakura? No! They can't! Why would they want her?"

"I don't know." Naruto replied. "But we can't waste time. We have to go and find her. We need to bring her back."

"That'll have to wait." A young girl about Naruto's age stepped into the tent. She had lightly tanned skin and sea foam green hair. Her eyes were orange-red and a barrel of water was strapped across her back, wrapped in red cloth which also secured it to her. A waterfall village headband was tied around her arm. "I'm looking for Naruto Uzumaki."

"And who wants to know?" Naruto asked. He squinted at her and place his hand across his chin. "You look familiar."

"She should." Sai retorted. "Her name is Aiko, she was registered for the Chunin exams. We defeated her and her team in the forest of death."

"Oh, yeah." Naruto said, scratching the back of his head, embarrassed at forgetting.

"You're mostly right. Aiko was a cover name. My real name is Fu. And I wasn't here for the Chunin exams. I was sent of business from the Waterfall village to establish contact with the nine tailed Jinchuriki, to form an alliance against Akatsuki." Fu said.

"Really. I can guess the Waterfall village would be so interested in an alliance with Leaf, seeing as there are so few tailed demons left free." Yamato said.

"It's worse than you think. We recently received word from the Cloud Village that Kirabi, the host of the eight-tails, was recently captured by an Akatsuki wearing the Uchiha crest." Fu said.

"Itachi?" Naruto asked.

"No. Itachi was killed by Sasuke not too long ago. Intelligence informs us that the assailant who captured the eight tails was none other than Sasuke Uchiha himself."

Naruto grabbed Fu by the collar and pushed her up against the wall. "Take that back right now!! Are you accusing Sasuke of turning to Akatsuki!? How dare you!"

"I'm just telling you what I was told. An embassy from the Cloud Village should have arrived by now, to inform you. The Raikage has called a meeting of the Kage's to decide the next course of action." Fu said. "The Waterfall village has no Kage, so I was sent to speak to the Hokage."

"That'll be difficult." Ino said. "The Raikage's embassy already came and left and the Hokage left for the meeting yesterday."

"Hokage!?" Naruto shouted. "Lady Tsunade is dead, so who's the new Hokage?"

Ino sighed. Not in annoyance, but more for discomfort and sadness. "Danzo of Root."

"Danzo!? That bastard?! Why'd they name him Hokage?" Naruto asked.

"Lower your voice, there are people here trying to recover. Let's step outside so we can talk." Ino suggested. After everyone was outside, the conversation continued. "With the deaths of Lady Tsunade and Kakashi, the council along with the feudal lord found the list of probable Hokage candidates rather limited."

"Why not just give me the title, if there's no one else. After all, Gaara is Kazekage, so age can't be applied." Naruto said.

"None of us had a say in the matter, Naruto. If Shikamaru or Kiba maybe had been there, they might have said something. But it wasn't our decision. And it gets worse." Ino sniffled slightly. "Sasuke has been officially added to the Bingo Book as a 'kill on sight' threat."

"What!?" Naruto shouted. "I leave for a week and look what happens. We've got to stop this. We need to get Sakura back and stop whoever is going after Sasuke as well as get that decision of Hokage overturned."

"Not an easy feat, kid." Yamato replied. "If the others of the Great Five Nations approve, Danzo's appointment to Hokage can't be changed. And we don't even know where the Akatsuki took Sakura to get her back."

"Kiba can help with the second one. We can get Kiba and Akamaru to track Sakura's scent and we'll be able to find her. And if what Fu says is correct, then we might find Sasuke there, too. Can we spare some man power?" Naruto asked. "I have a few people in mind to take with me to go after Sakura."

"Who do you have in mind?" Yamato asked.

"I want to take Sai here with me, he knows Root ninja. And Kiba, Shino and Hinata as well. Lee, too. Perhaps even Shikamaru." Naruto said.

"Quite a few you have picked out. And do you really plan on going after Madara and Madara II?" Yamato asked. Naruto gave a quick nod. Yamato sighed. "Even if I tried to stop you, you'd go anyways. Fine, gather as many of them as you can and prepare to leave out. I guess this can count as an A-rank mission, rescue Sakura Haruno."

"Hey!" Fu spoke up. "You're going to need the help of my squad, too."

"Thanks for the offer, but I don't think…" Naruto began. He was cut off when Fu grasped his wrist and sent a small but intense spark of Chakra through his system. Naruto recognized that Chakra signature, it was much liked his own and like Gaara's before the Shukaku was extracted.

"Trust me," Fu smiled, " you'll need my help."

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Madara II/Suki stepped into the private quarters of Madara the First. He was removing the Tobi mask and setting it on a nightstand beside a two person bed. "Any news about the Konoha captive?" Madara asked.

"I think she's starting to weaken." Suki replied. "She still harbors feelings for Sasuke. But I'm afraid that he, too, might feel for her."

"It doesn't matter if he does. In fact, it might bring her to our side more easily." Madara ran his fingers through his hair and allowed his regeneration Jutsu kick in, returning him to his youthful and prime appearance and strength. "All the pieces are in place and moving. Everything is preplanned. Sasuke's failure to capture the eight-tails is irksome, but only a minor setback. It won't be long before all the tailed demons are ours, and then the three of us; Sasuke, you, and I shall perform the ultimate technique and be granted untold powers. Then finally I will be rejuvenated permanently to my full youth."

Suki moved across the room and sat on the bed behind Madara. "I like you better that way. They true you, like you're meant to be. Immortal."

"No more partial immortality, but perfect immortality. For both of us." Madara smiled. Suki undid the sleeves of her Akatsuki cloak and let it fall to the floor. Madara tossed his aside as well. "It's been such a long time since the last time, hasn't it?"

"I've been faithful to you, my master." Suki replied, as Madara grabbed her by the waist and pulled her in tight. She draped her arms over his shoulders. "Can we? After so long? Please?"

Madara nodded. "Come to bed, my dear."

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Sasuke stood before his door. Behind it, Sakura deliberated. Sasuke lightly tapped his knuckles against the wood and called, "Sakura. It's me. It's time, have you made a decision?"

He was greeted only with silence, then the knob turned slowly and Sakura looked through the crack in the doorway. "Yes." she said.

"And?"

"I want to help Naruto. If it helps him, I'll join you." Sakura said. "For Naruto's sake, I'll join Akatsuki."

Sasuke smiled and lightly pushed the door open. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. "I know this must be tough for you."

"Tough doesn't begin to describe it, Sasuke. So much has happened in the past few days. With Madara II coming after Naruto, and everything that happened to him." Sakura stated.

"I've informed Suki to no longer hunt Naruto. Once you've been fully established as a member, the job of capturing Naruto and the nine tailed demon will fall to the two of us." Sasuke slid his Akatsuki cloak off and hung it on a coat rack by the door. "You know, Sakura, in the past few years you've really matured. Not just as a person, but as a woman."

"Don't start trying to come on to me now. Not after what you did." Sakura glared.

"I meant it as a compliment. I'm sure Naruto didn't notice, or care to mention. You have grown more beautiful." Sasuke smiled.

"well, thank you." Sakura said sharply, and turned away. Did she turn away because she was mad, or to hide the redness in her face? Did she not want Sasuke to see that she was blushing? Why would she? He ran away on them. Sasuke Uchiha had chosen revenge and hatred over the companionship and love they had offered him. He deserted them, and she hated him for it.

But now, after so long he had turned back. He was now thinking of them, and he was talking to her like she was someone he felt for. He'd even kissed her. Sakura gasped and lightly ran her fingers over her lips. That's right, Sasuke had kissed her. She remembered always wanting him to do so back in the academy and even during the early days of their missions together.

Now, she felt his hands on her shoulders and his body press up against her. "Sakura, I feel terrible about what I did. I now see that it was wrong of me to run away like that. Most of all, I regret leaving you. I hate hurting you like that."

"Sasuke, please don't." Sakura's voice trembled even as the words came out. The feel of his hands on her bare arms, his face so close to hers and the warmth of his breath.

"Sakura," Sasuke said as his arms wrapped around her waist, "I love you."

Those three words, strong enough to bring Sakura's defenses down. Se never thought she'd ever hear them coming from him. She turned to look at him and caught his eyes. His black eyes, and in them she saw no deception. She then closed her eyes and welcomed another kiss.

With that kiss, she finally stopped holding back. She let it happen, she wanted it, desired with all her heart. She'd always hoped that her first time would be with Sasuke, but Sakura never truly believed that it would happen. Wonderful, was the only word that came to her mind. With Sasuke, it felt wonderful. He was gentle with her, and passionate. And when they had finished, he didn't leave. Instead holding her tightly in his arms, together in the same one person bed.

"You know, Sakura, you were my first time, too." Sasuke whispered.

Sakura smiled and moaned. "I'm glad." She said, just before falling asleep.

/////////////////////////////////////////

(A/N: If you didn't notice, I don't write lemons.)


	29. Broken

**Broken**

Naruto and company busily set up camp. The first day out, and Kiba and Akamaru had managed to pick up Sakura's scent. But she was still a few days away. Naruto sighed, rubbing his shoulders after setting up his tent. The others were doing the same. Fu, the girl from the waterfall village, sat by a small stream running her hands through the water. Her water drum was placed next to her. She untied the red cloth around the top and unscrewed the lid. Water from the stream lifted up and filed itself into the barrel. Once it was full, she placed the lid back in place.

"You use water style Jutsu." Naruto stepped up next to her.

"You just noticed?" She pulled the strap of the cloth over her shoulder. "If I remember, I used the Jutsu against you. What did you came to talk to me about?"

"You sent that pulse of Chakra through my body. I've felt it before. Are you what I think you are?" Naruto asked.

"What do you think I am?" Fu smiled and laughed. "We'll discuss that later."

"Why can't we discuss it now?" He crossed his arms.

"Because, it's a secret."

"Hey, Naruto! Hurry up, the food's about ready!" Shikamaru shouted.

Fu smiled and started toward the camp fire. "Come on. Food."

Naruto sighed. He followed her back to camp, just as the others were getting up. "Okay, guys. What have we got?"

"Ssshh." Kiba held his hand out to the side. "Nobody talk." He sniffed the air. His sense of smell equal to or even greater than the average ninja hound, nothing in the area he couldn't scent. And right now, something was off. Akamaru snarled, the hair on his back spiking up like porcupine quills. "Hinata, use your Byakugan and find this guy."

Hinata nodded. She closed her eyes and clasped her hands together. "Byakugan!" She snapped her eyes open and the chakra veins around them bulged. Her eyes, a near 360 degrees of vision easily picked out the hiding ninja. "Found him," she whispered, "Shino, five degrees west, third large branch up, the large Oak."

"Understood." Shino stood perfectly still, however the insects of the forest moved at his command. They quietly swarmed around the base of the tree. Small black dots began to crawl up the tree trunk, making their way to the third branch.

"That won't be necessary," the ninja in the tree responded. A figure in a tan trench coat leapt down from the tree and landed directly in front of the Konoha and Waterfall ninja. A figure with whitish gray hair and glasses. "I'm here merely to talk."

"Kabuto!!" Naruto shouted. He reached for the kunai in his leg holster. "What are you doing here?"

"I just said, I'm here to talk. You're as dense as ever." Kabuto pulled a small notebook from his coat and threw it at the ground between them. "You might find this interesting. This is information on Akatsuki, all that we had. Plus some info on the current members of Sasuke's new squad."

"Akatsuki members. Does it have any info on Madara II?" Naruto asked, his hand still ready to attack.

"I threw that in just for fun." Kabuto shifted his gaze from Naruto to Fu standing next to him. "Oh, I know you. You're another one of them, aren't you? How interesting. Sorry, the info book on her isn't here."

"You keep information on me?" Fu asked. "Naruto, who is this guy?"

"He was an underling of Orochimaru's." Naruto answered. He turned back to Kabuto. "What are you doing, now that the creepy snake guy is gone?"

Kabuto smiled. "I partially have you to thank for that. My whole life, I've been the instrument of others, used for their own personal gain. Much like you, Naruto. But unlike you, I didn't try to find my own path. I just let them use me. Now that Orochimaru's gone, I didn't have a path to take anymore." Kabuto pushed back the hood of his coat and pulled his glasses away. "So, with your inspiration, I've decided on my own path." He turned his face towards Naruto; the left side of his face was twisted and covered in scar tissue. The eye was exactly the same as Orochimaru's. "I will now use Orochimaru's power to surpass him."

"Oh, my…what have you done to yourself?" Naruto asked.

"Simple, I used the remains Sasuke left and grafted them into my own body. It would seem Orochimaru wasn't completely dead, as it uses a lot of my strength just to keep him at bay." Kabuto pulled back the coat and revealed his also grotesque arm. "Now, I'll be taking my leave."

A kunai flew past his head and struck the tree next to him. "Where do you think you're going?" Naruto asked.

"I'll go do to Sasuke what he did to Orochimaru. Then I'll disrupt and bring down Akatsuki. After that, I'll be back for you, nine-tailed boy." He raced off, disappearing into the thicket of trees.

Naruto stepped over to the book laying on the ground. He picked it up and started thumbing threw the pages. After a while he came to the page about Madara Uchiha II. He began to read.

"Madara Uchiha II. Real name Suki Uchiha, graduated from the academy at age 10 second best in her class right after Minato Namikaze, assigned under Jiraiya-sensei with Unisha Kenodo and Minato Namikaze. Recruited at age 12 by Orochimaru-sama. Fulfilled several small missions as his subordinate. When Orochimaru was banished from the village by the Forth, he ordered Suki to kill all those Minato loved most, specifically his wife and then unborn child as well as all her immediate family. She succeeded. After which she left Konoha and became a full time follower of Orochimaru-sama."

Naruto closed the book. "So, she used to be on the same squad as my father. Oh, how I hate that bitch."

"Come on, Naruto. Sit down, don't trouble yourself now. Just eat." Shikamaru said, sitting on a rock next to the fire. "Tomorrow we leave at dawn and catch up with Sakura."

"I know." Naruto sat next to the fire along with everyone else.

That night, the crickets chirped away as everyone slept in their tents. A shooting star grazed the night sky. Akamaru slept with his body laying over Kiba like a living blanket. Outside in the darkness, leaves rustled and a twig snapped. Akamaru's head jolted up. His finely atoned nose sniffed the air, and his excellent ears picked up the tiniest of sounds. Once again, someone was skulking around outside the camp.

The large dog nudged Kiba with his nose. Kiba stirred and groaned before opening his eyes. "What is it, boy?" He sat up and placed his hand on Akamaru's head, scratching behind the dog's ears. Kiba sniffed, he too could pick up the scent. "Smell something, do you, boy?" Kiba reached down next to his sleeping bag and rubbed the back of a small beetle. One of Shino's.

The beetle released pheromones into the air, alerting all the others in the area put in place by Shino. The insects then alerted the shinobi that they had been put with. One by one, they started to wake up and prepare for a confrontation.

A fireball shot down from the canopy of the forest, striking in the middle of the camp. The fire blazed, crackled and snapped. Naruto jumped out of his tent, the red cloak with black flame trim on his back and the three-pronged kunai at the ready. "Guys, wake up! We're under attack!"

"Already awake, Naruto!" Shikamaru shouted back. He held Asuma's hand grip daggers in both hands.

Kiba burst from his tent on the back of Akamaru, riding the dog like a battle wolf. "Hinata! How many are there?" Kiba shouted.

"I count five!" Hinata's Byakugan fully activated. "Five Akatsuki, based on the robes."

"Great." Fu said, tying her water barrel on her back. "They've come for us already, eh Naruto?"

One of the Akatsuki sprung from the forest, welding a huge sword larger than himself over his shoulder. He swung it with ease, aiming for Hinata. She saw him and leapt aside, the blade crashed into the ground, embedding itself a good six inches in the dirt. The Akatsuki yanked the sword back easily and held the sword over his shoulder again.

"That's Zabuza's sword!" Naruto exclaimed, pointing at the shinobi. "That's the Executioner Blade!"

"Oh, so you're one of those that brought down Zabuza." The Akatsuki pulled the hood of his cloak back and revealed a pale face with strait white hair and purple eyes. He grinned and snapped his sharp teeth together. "I was a protégé of Zabuza's, trained to one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. This sword is my inheritance. You can call me Suigetsu."

"He was in the book Kabuto gave us, Naruto." Shikamaru exclaimed. "He was one of those Sasuke recruited."

"Yeah, I remember." Naruto twirled the kunai around his fingers before clutching them tightly. "So, you traveled with Sasuke?"

"Yeah." Suigetsu answered.

"Good. You can take me to him!" Naruto threw a kunai at Suigetsu.

The blade struck him, but just kept going, right though his body a hitting the ground behind him. The kunai now dripping wet. "Look what you did, you tore a hole in my new coat. I don't think they'll give me a new one." Suigetsu remarked.

"A water clone?" Naruto asked.

"No." Hinata replied, her Byakugan still active. "He's really there. His body is actually made of water."

Another Akatsuki jumped down, pulling a fist back to attack. Rock Lee leapt up towards the attacker with a spinning kick. "Leaf Hurricane!" Lee's kick struck right when the Akatsuki punched. The Akatsuki's fist grew and became scaled right at the exact moment it hit, striking with tremendous force, sending Rock Lee spiraling to the ground.

Lee got back up, nursing his injured leg. "That was very similar to what the sound ninja five had before."

"I agree." Shikamaru stated. "The Curse Mark."

Three more Akatsuki came down from the trees, encircling the Konoha ninja. Akamaru sniffed the air and barked. "I know, but I can't believe it." Kiba said. "It can't be…"

One of the Akatsuki stepped forward and pushed his hood back. His feminine face with raven black hair recognized instantly with Naruto. "Sasuke? What are you doing with Akatsuki?"

"Naruto." Sasuke said. "You're back out here looking for me again. Didn't I already tell you to stop? You'd never convince me to go back with you, no matter how many others you bring with you." He nodded over at Kiba, Shikamaru, Lee, Shino, and Hinata.

"It might surprise you, but this time I'm not looking for you." Naruto said. "The Akatsuki kidnapped Sakura. You're an Akatsuki, where is she?!"

Sasuke grinned. He glanced over his shoulder at the other robed figure and motioned for them to step forward. The other Akatsuki stepped up and stood next to Sasuke. He reached up and grabbed the hood of the cloak and pulled it back. A girl with pink hair and a Konoha headband slashed through the middle who they all instantly recognized. "As you can see, Sakura's with me."

The look on Naruto's face, utter disbelief. His mouth lay open and his eyes straining wide. "Wha…Sakura…what is…why?" Tears began to well up under his eyes. Overflowing down his cheek.

"Naruto." Sakura held her hand out. "Come with us. We can set you free."

Naruto felt the strength in his legs give; he fell to the ground, his knees digging in the dirt. He dug his fingers into the ground. His tears soaked the earth. Not now, not again. Now, his whole team, all of them were gone. Once again, he was alone.

"Jugo, Suigetsu, grab him. Then we can get out of here." Sasuke ordered.

As they moved in, Shikamaru and Kiba stepped between them and Naruto. "You want him, you go through us." Kiba snarled. Akamaru growled.

"No one takes Naruto from us." Shikamaru held the grip kunai in a battle stance. His chakra ran through the knives, forming Chakra blades.

"And what of the rest of them, Sasuke?" Suigetsu asked.

"Whatever you want." Sasuke replied.

Suigetsu grinned. He swung the Executioner Blade down at Shikamaru. Shikamaru dodged and slashed with the hand knives, but they simply cut through Suigetsu's water body. The water ninja grabbed Shikamaru by the face and encompassed his entire head in water. Shikamaru clawed at the water, but it didn't release him. He was drowning.

Kiba and Akamaru charged Jugo. It only took one strike form the big guy to send Akamaru sprawling. He grabbed Kiba by the neck and lifted him up, choking him.

In the grass, insects crawled along towards the Akatsuki all under Shino's command. They swarmed and in an instant, attacked. In bugs swarmed up around Suigetsu and Jugo alike, surrounding them from all sides. Suigetsu dispersed his entire body into a wave of water, drowning all the insects at once. He reformed once, now with one hand over Shikamaru the other over Shino.

"Sakura. Come, help me carry Naruto." Sasuke said.

She nodded. Together, the two former members of squad 7 stepped over to the groveling Naruto. "Naruto." Sakura knelt down next to him and placed her hand on his back. "Naruto, time to go. Come with us."

"Must be genjutsu." Naruto whispered to himself. "someone must have used genjutsu on her, that's the only explanation."

"No, Naruto." Sasuke retorted. "Sakura choose this herself. She made the conscious choice to join me. Isn't that right, Sakura?"

"Naruto. Please. Come with us, we're your friends." Sakura said. "We can free you so you'll never be forced to be a host every again."

"Sasuke," Naruto growled, "does it run in your blood to betray those you love and who love you?"

"What?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto's head jolted up, his eyes red and slitted. His teeth pointy sharp. "Do all Uchiha betray and hurt those closest to them?" His voice roared with deep seated rage. Red chakra swelled up and engulfed him, tails beginning to form.

"Naruto, stop this!" Sakura shouted.

"No. It's over. I swore to bring Sasuke back to you, instead you choose to leave all of us for him. Selfish and childish, you simply don't care about us and you never cared about me. And now, I don't care either." With one swing of his chakra infused arm, Naruto swatted Sakura aside like a fly. In a roared voice which literally shook the leaves from the trees, Naruto shouted "Sasuke, you die first!"


	30. The SevenTails

**The Seven Tails**

The silence of the forest was torn apart by the sounds of trees splintering and shattering. Naruto, now in fourth tail transformation, chased after Sasuke in blind rage. The Uchiha, dodged by the skin of his teeth as the arms of red chakra energy clawed at the earth and forest around him. Only thanks to his more advanced Sharingan was Sasuke able to stay just barely out of reach of Naruto.

Sasuke closed his eyes, then reopened them with Mangekyo Sharingan. "Amatarasu!" Black flames erupted from the chakra arms as the reached for him. Naruto disconnected the flaming chakra from his main body and allowed it to dissipate, along with the fire, before reforming another perfect arm. Sasuke clasped his hand over the bleeding eye. "Crap! As long as he uses the Kyuubi's chakra like that, Amatarasu is useless."

Sakura tightened her gloves and charged into battle, drawing the chakra to her fist. Just before she could throw her punch, Rock Lee attacked. He spun around with a powerful kick and struck Sakura's fist just as she released her power. Sakura and Lee were shoved back 100 feet from the impact.

As Sakura regained her footing, she rubbed her knuckles. She couldn't believe it. Lee had managed to block her enhanced attack without any sort of protection. And the fact that he was still standing, although winded, meant that he hadn't suffered any damage. It began to dawn on her then the reasons why. Since Lee's over the top training had probably torn his muscles and fractured his bones many times in the past, each time they healed the bones and muscles grew stronger. By this point, Lee's bones were probably at least as hard as steel.

Lee pulled the leg warmers off his right leg. Just as he did, the weights strapped to his caves crumbled to the ground. Luckily for him, the weights absorbed most of the impact of Sakura's punch. Even so, his leg still tingled numb. He would not be able to take another hit like that, if he did his bones would be shattered.

Quickly, Lee pulled the leg warmer and weights of his left leg and tossed them aside. "I am sorry, Sakura. I do not know why you chose to defect, but I must put an end to you."

"I don't want to hurt you either, Lee. Get out of the way." Sakura concentrated her Chakra in her fists again, preparing for another attack.

Lee held his hand our before him, his battle stance. "I cannot allow you to take Naruto"

"Fine." Sakura slammed her fist against the ground. Chunks of earth and rock lifted into the air. Lee shoved off and leapt just as the destruction shattered the earth beneath him. Taking shuriken from his leg pouch, he flung them at Sakura. Sakura disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving a log behind. She appeared behind Lee, Chakra fist at the ready.

She punched the air as Lee twisted his body, dodging the blow. With a swift blow his leg connected with her ribs. Sakura shouted in pain. She hooked her arm around Lee's leg and held him in place as she concentrated her Chakra again. She slammed her fist against Lee's face, sending him cascading to the ground. He crashed, caving in the ground beneath him. Sakura landed next to him, clutching her hand over her ribs.

Sakura had no time to rest. At that moment, Hinata smashed the palm of her hand against Sakura's back, sending a pulse of chakra through Sakura's body. Sakura lurched forward and gasped. Just as she turned around, Hinata spun and slammed the heel of her foot against Sakura's face. The pink hair Kunoichi fell against the ground, unconscious.

Hinata moved quickly, hoping to subdue the other Akatsuki before they choked the life out of her team mates. The vains around her eyes bulged as she charged at the one holding Kiba by the throat. As she came close, gentle fist at the ready, the over sized scaled Akatsuki jutted out his other arm, striking Hinata across the face.

Hinata shrieked. She fell to the ground, rubbing the side of her head. Jugo stood over her, holding Kiba in one hand. He raised his other arm, grotsce scales growing over it, and swung down with all his strength. Hinata winced, prepared for the worsed. Nothing came.

She opened her eyes again and saw Fu, the Waterfall ninja standing between her and Jugo. Fu's hand clasped firmly over Jugo's arm. Jugo struggled, but could not free his arm. "I really didn't want to get involved so soon, but we have no time." Fu stated. She calmly lifted her other arm and held it to Jugo's chest. In a sudden burst, the titan of Akatsuki was thrown back easily a hundred feet. He lost his hold on Kiba, who collapsed gasping for air.

"Kiba!" Hinata shouted, throwing her arms around him.

"Hinata, are you alright?" Kiba asked.

"Me? What about you?"

"No time for chitchat." Fu snarked, chakra began to emerge over her body. Green-turquoise chakra forming over her body. She crouched over on all fours as an extra set of legs made of chakra sprouted from her abdomen. The chakra formed a dome shape over her back and a large horn grew on her head. Giving her the appearance of a Hercules Beetle. A beetle with one whip-like tail and two wings.

Fu, now in three tailed mode, charged with incredible speed, shattering thought Suigetsu. Water splattered all over the place and a soaked Shikamaru and Shino fell to the ground gasping for air.

The Hercules Beetle shot through the air, flying after Naruto and Sasuke.

Hinata staggered to her feet and raced to Shino and Shikamaru. She grabbed Shino under the arms and started to lift him back to his feet. Kiba hobbled over to them, still holding his hand over his throat. Akamaru whined as he dragged himself back to his feet.

"Shino, Shikamaru, are you both alright?" Hinata asked.

Shino coughed, water dribbling down hi chin. "I'll be okay."

"What was that?" Shikamaru asked.

"I think," Kiba came and stood next to them, "that was Fu, the Waterfall genin. I think she's a Jinchuriki as well."

"An interesting development." A voice said from the trees. All eyes shifted up. Standing among the branches, Madara Uchiha II smiled. Her Sharingan fully active. "Two of the last three Jinchuriki in one place, how unusual."

Kiba snarled. "Damn it."

Madara II leapt down from the tree, landing a few feet away. "Don't worry you're pretty faces, I'm not here to kill you. I have a message to Naruto from my master." She stepped past them to where Sakura lay. Madara II picked up the girl and swung her over her shoulder. "Tell the nine-tailed child, that if he wants to finally be spared his pain, meet him at the Valley of the End in two weeks. And then he will finally be free from his curse."

Madara II flashed open her eyes, the Sharingan swirled and caught Shino, Kiba, Akamaru, Hinata, and Shikamaru all in genjutsu, forcing them to sleep.

* * *

The quiet of the forest erupted as Naruto in four tailed transformation chased after Sasuke through the trees. He took a swipe at him every chance he got, destroying anything that got in the way.

Sasuke, for lack of anything better to do, ran like his life depended on it, which it pretty much did. Barely moving fast enough to stay out of Naruto's reach. "This is taking too long." Sasuke's eyes changed to Sharingan. He caught Naruto with his gaze and instantly, the fox's chakra washed away. Naruto stumbled in the air before crashing to the ground. Sasuke landed next to him, squarely on his feet. "Just look at you, Naruto. With the power of the nine-tails you are invincible, but also lack the distinction to use those powers properly. However, without the fox you are nothing. You wouldn't even be considered a 3rd rate ninja if not for the demon's power."

"And don't you with you had it." Naruto snapped back. "That's why you're after me, after all the hosts, because you and your Uchiha bastards want the power of the tailed demons for yourselves. You're jealous of what you don't have."

"I have my own power, I don't need yours. My eyes can see everything, what can your eyes see?"

"I can see people." Naruto stood up, facing his former friend. "I can see the pain that others feel. And I can do everything in my power to help them overcome their pain and fears. But you, you are engrossed, wallowing in your own personal hatred. You can't see beyond the past, and if all you see is the past then you can never advance."

Naruto fell back to the ground as Sasuke punched him. "And you don't act self righteous?! Like right now, preaching to me?! Who do you think you are? You're a no body! The only thing that makes you special is being possessed by a demon whore!! I told you once that you know nothing about my pain! It's something you could never understand!"

"Understand what it means to lose family? Understand what it means to have a father and mother taken from you by forces outside your control? To have your entire family slaughtered by one of their own? No, Sasuke. You're wrong. I know all too well how that feels." The anger in Naruto's eyes faded as he struggled to get back to his feet. "Do you remember your mother, Sasuke?"

"Leave her out of this!" Sasuke punched Naruto again. Naruto recoiled, but this time did not fall back. "She has nothing to do with this!"

"I found mine." Naruto said. "I finally found her, after all these years." His voice cracked. Tears flowed down from his eyes. "She was nothing like I would have ever expected, in fact at first I was horrified. But after a while, I found the love I had been missing my whole life. The love of a mother for her child. Is that all you're really missing, Sasuke? Is that all you are trying to hide? You want someone to show you love?"

"I've already found that. Sakura is willing to do anything for me. Do you want me to tell you what we did just the other night, how she screamed my name? How she loved every moment of it? You'll never be able to have her the way I can. But you can always go crying home to mommy now, knowing that the person you swore to make happy can only be made happy by another man!"

A droning sound came echoing though the trees. A sound similar to a large insect. Suddenly, a being made of green energy shot out of the forest and crashed into Sasuke, sending him tumbling across the ground. The energy being landed on the side of a tree. It looked like a giant Hercules beetle with two large wings and a long whipping tail.

"And what is this supposed to be?" Sasuke remarked.

"Three tails transformation." The beetle replied. It whipped its tail towards Sasuke, who dodged the attack.

Sasuke turned and faced the giant beetle with his full Sharingan. "Another Jinchuriki!? You things just keep coming out of the wood work."

The Beetle launched itself towards Sasuke, it's legs scratching and clawing at the Uchiha. Sasuke double flipped above and stared with his full Sharingan. The one tail caught around Sasuke's leg and slammed him to the ground. "Don't even try it! The Uchiha's Sharingan only works against the Nine-Tailed Fox. It can't constrain the Chakra of the other demons."

Madara Uchiha II came flying down from the trees above, Sakura unconscious over her shoulder. She stomped her foot right though the Chakra tail of the Beetle, severing it, and grabbed Sasuke by the collar. In a second, she jumped back to the trees. "Let us stop this for now!" She shouted. "Even I cannot take on two Jinchuriki at once, especially not with my hands full."

The Chakra shell of the Beetle faded away, and Fu straitened herself out. "Don't run away so fast! Give it another minute I could have you all on a platter!"

"That is why I'm leaving. Don't worry, it's not over with yet. My master wants you both, and in two weeks it will all be decided. Just ask your friends what I mean!" Madara II shouted back.

"Sasuke!!" Naruto shouted. "If you want to know the real truth, ask Madara or Sakura about it! Ask them why we both had to suffer! Why your clan and mine died!!" He heard nothing back. Madara II had already taken both of them away. "Damn you, you BITCH!!!"

Fu sighed. She brushed her arms off and started to walk away. "Oh, well. Time to get back."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Naruto grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back. "Why didn't you tell me you were a Jinchuriki like me?"

"And risk my operation? I've already been targeted, same as you. If I'd let word out that two of the last three Hosts were traveling together, we would've been hit by every surviving Akatsuki member at once." Fu shrugged him off. "Anyway, we don't have a lot of time. She said two weeks, after that they will all come for us. We need to be ready."

"Two weeks? What do you mean ready?" Naruto asked. He wanted to probe more about her story, but that would have to wait.

"The Akatsuki must be planning something big if it'll take another two weeks. I suggest we go find Killabee." Fu said.

"Who's Killabee?" Naruto asked.

Fu looked puzzled. "You honestly don't know? He's the only other one left. The Eight-Tailed Jinchuriki."

* * *

New promotional trailer on youtube: .com/watch?v=0erHYHgxpN0


	31. Sasuke Seeks the Truth

**Sasuke seeks the Truth**

What did Naruto mean? This was the question that had buried itself in Sasuke's mind ever since returning to the Akatsuki head quarters. Why his clan had to die? Why they both had to suffer? Naruto didn't have a clan. He was always alone; since the very beginning. Sasuke knew this. And yet, something continued to eat away at him from within. Madara, Suki, they were still keeping secrets from him.

Everyone had been keeping secrets from him. His whole life. Itachi, his own father, the village council, everyone. He had to know, needed to know! He would dig for the answers.

After coming back, Sakura was placed in bed to rest. Sasuke stood by the bedside, awaiting her awakening. Naruto had said that Sakura knew something. In Sasuke's heart, he knew that whatever the secret was, neither Madara or Suki would tell him. But Sakura, she would do anything for him. She had forsaken her family, friends, and all other loyalties to him. If she had information, she would divulge it to him.

Her face twitched as she began to stir. She slowly rocked her head from side to side and she opened her eyes. Sakura smiled seeing Sasuke standing over her. She sat up, the blankets falling around her waist. Her hand raised to her head and she groaned. "Sasuke."

"Good. You're awake." Sasuke placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Did we get Naruto?" She asked.

"Unfortunately, he had a stronger ally than we thought. They escaped." He sat down on the bed. "Sakura, tell me, what do you know about Naruto's clan?"

"Huh?"

"Before we withdrew, Naruto talked about a clan of his. And he said that you knew something about it. What do you know?"

"Well, all I know was told to us by Suki. She said that their used to be a clan called Uzumaki that lived outside the village, and that it was guarded by the Kyuubi." Sakura explained.

"Why was the Nine Tails guarding this clan?"

"Supposedly, this clan was actually the children of the Fox, according to what she said."

"The Fox's children? How is that possible?" Sasuke asked.

"Well," Sakura stumbled. She knew how the story went, but what would it do to Sasuke? How would it affect him. "The Fox can take human form. You see, the Nine Tailed Fox is actually female."

"That's not what I asked. Naruto said there was a reason why both his clan and mine had to die. What is the connection between this clan, and mine?"

Sakura sighed. No way to get around it now. "What Suki told us was that the Kyuubi was once the lover of Madara. And that she was the mother of the entire Uchiha clan. But after the battle against the First Hokage, she left him. And her unborn child, the last of Madara's children, would become the first Uzumaki."

Sakura looked up at Sasuke. His face, as still as normal, concealed the turmoil that welled within him. "Anything else?" Sasuke asked coldly.

"Well," Sakura continued, "after a while, a woman from the Uzumaki clan came to the village. This woman, Kushina, eventually fell in love with Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, and they had a child, Naruto. The night he was born, Suki came back and used her Sharingan to force the Fox to destroy the Uzumaki clan. Naruto however was taken back to his father, who saved Naruto by sealing the Fox within him."

"And once Naruto became a Jinchuriki, Suki couldn't kill him." Sasuke said to himself. He stood up and opened the door. "Thank you, Sakura." After closing the door behind him, he slammed his fist into the wall. The stone cracked from the impact. "Damn it!"

"What's got you worked up?" Suki dropped down from the shadows in the ceiling, landing next to Sasuke. "Honestly, I think you've-"

Sasuke grabbed her by the collar and pushed her back against the wall. Suki stared in shock as Sasuke placed her hands against her throat. "You really are just a bitch."

"Ack! What are you talking about?" She hacked the words out.

"Why was I never told? Why didn't anyone tell me about the truth of the clan? That we're descended from the Nine Tails?" Sasuke shouted.

"Where did you hear that from?" Suki grabbed Sasuke's arms and pushed him away.

Blazing white lightning crackled from Sasuke's hands, forcing Suki to release him. "Sakura told me, and you told Sakura." The lightning faded and Sasuke lowered his hands. "What else haven't you told me? Why have neither you or Madara told me about the Uzumaki clan?"

Suki straitened her shirt, brushing the dust away. "Well, actually, Madara himself never knew. I guess I over looked the fact that I told Sakura. As for what else I haven't told you, I think you got the main part. Yes, Naruto's lineage is connected to the Uchiha clan. He is the son of the Fourth Hokage, as well. But does it really matter? Naruto has no Uchiha Kekki Genkai."

Sasuke sneered. "That's not the point. Did you never realize that your actions lead directly to the extinction of our clan? Because you used the Fox to destroy the Uzumaki, it went back to the Leaf Village. Because the council correctly figured that only an Uchiha could control the Fox, they had our clan segregated from the rest of the village. That's what almost lead to an Uchiha coup d'e`tat. And my brother was forced to kill our clan to stop it. So, in the end, it was all your fault!!" Sasuke pounded his fist into Suki's face.

Suki twisted around from the impact and sprawled against the ground. As she sat up, she brought her hand to her face, rubbing her cheek. "You bastard child." She kicked her leg out, knocking the legs out from under Sasuke. She jumped to her feet, placing her foot against his neck. "You need to learn some respect. You know what? I think you're still just looking for someone to blame. Any reason to justify what you do." Suki turned her head away and spat; droplets of blood splattered against the floor. "If you want to blame someone, blame yourself. After all, you could've done something about it."

"I was eight years old! What was I supposed to do?"

"How about not devote your life to revenge?"

"And where do you get off telling me what to do with my life? Everyone's always telling me what to do with my life!"

"Hm." Suki pulled her foot away. "You want the truth? Fine. Madara was the one who wanted me to kill them."

"You just told me Madara didn't know there was a Uzumaki clan!"

"He didn't. He wanted me to kill Naruto and his mother." Suki explained.

"Why?"

"I don't know. Some vision of his. Anyway, Madara also planned to set the Uchiha against the Leaf Village. He wanted them to carry out a coup, it would upset the balance of power throughout the five nations and allow Madara to more easily collect the tailed demons." Suki said.

"What?"

"However, Madara didn't count on Itachi. Itachi's love for his village and for peace is what made him wipe out his own clan. And set us back by about seven years. How's that for truth?"

Sasuke got back to his feet. He turned away and walked into the darkness. He couldn't trust them now, he knew this in his heart. He couldn't trust Suki or Madara. They were just using him. For what, he didn't know, but they were up to something. Sasuke needed more information, and neither of them were going to divulge anything. Plus, Sakura had already told him everything she knew. But he had to know the truth, the whole truth. And maybe the secret chambers in the Uchiha compound held the information.


	32. Wind Back the Clock: Kushina and Minato

**Wind back the clock: Kushina and Minato**

_4 years before Naruto's birth…_

Kushina Uzumaki, a frequent visitor and honorary ninja of the Village Konoha, strolled through the streets of the village. Her long red hair flowed behind her. She actually appreciated this village; the people were kind and respectful.

Her low cut orange top and short shorts left little to the imagination. She reveled in taunting the men of the village. Especially the white-haired sannin pervert, Jiraiya. But no man would ever get the chance to touch her.

As she strolled through the town, she spotted a kunai left laying in the middle of the street. She walked over to it, staring quizzing down at it. It was a three pronged kunai with an engraving on the handle. "Now, what kind of idiot would leave something like this laying around?"

A cloud of white smoke exploded up from the kunai and Kushina jumped back. She squeaked in surprise. As the smoke began to clear, a wave of relief and annoyance washed over her. The happy, goofy face of Minato Namikaze appeared before her. His headband wrapped tightly around his forehead under his spiky blonde hair. His arms were folded across his chest. "Why, hello. Kushina-chan. How are you- Mmrf!"

Kushina placed her hand over his face and pushed him aside. "Move it, Namikaze." She stepped past him, holding her hands in her pockets.

"Hey, wait a minute. I need to talk to you." Minato ran after her.

She glanced back over her shoulder, her lips pushed out. "No, you don't. Your just trying for another attempt to get in my pants. I swear, you take after that old sensei of yours."

"I'm not like that. You know I don't go after women like that." Minato protested.

"Really? I've talked with Suki, you know. She tells me all about your 'experiences'."

"Experiences? Really? I think that my reputation gets more than I do. But no, the Hokage has summoned us."

"Us? What does he want with us?"

"Hey, don't disrespect the old man. In any case, We should probably hurry up. I'll see you there." He disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Kushina alone in the street.

She walked back over to where the kunai lay in the street. She picked it up, examining the engravings on the handle. "A summoning seal. Is he trying to show off again?"

Kushina made her way up to the Hokage's office. Inside she found Minato, Jiraiya and Suki all waiting for her. The 3rd Hokage, Sarutobi, sat behind his desk. His hands folded in front of his face. "Uzumaki Kushina. Good of you to come."

"What is it, Lord Hokage?" She asked, closing the door behind her.

"I need you to act as the fourth member of Team Jiraiya. I sent Unisha on a separate mission. Your mission consists of the destruction of a supply train in the land of Earth. I've already given the coordiance to Jiraiya. You are expected to leave immediately."

Kushina sighed in exasperation. "Lord Hokage, please, aren't there a dozen other suitable ninja that can take the place of Unisha? Why do I have to go with them?"

"You work well with this team, Uzumaki." The Hokage took his pipe from his lips and breathed out smoke.

"But I don't really like these people." Kushina protested.

"I must agree with Kushina on this one, about the only thing we agree on." Suki said. "I would rather not work with her."

"It's not about whether or not you like the person, it's about how well you function as a team." Hokage set his pipe between his lips again. "Now, Team Jiraiya, you have your orders. Move out."

* * *

A small wagon train moved through the rocky mountain terrain on the outskirts of the Land of Earth. Hiding in the rocks, Team Jiraiya watched from afar. "Our target, dead ahead." Jiraiya confirmed.

The three Jounin under his command nodded. "What is our course of action?" Suki whispered.

"Why not just take them?" Kushina asked.

"It is a distinct possibility that they have Earth ninja escorts. And if they do, we don't know of their power." Minato pointed out. "Jiraiya-sensei, may I try out the new jutsu I've been developing?"

"Oh, yes. I forgot about that. Go right ahead." Jiraiya confirmed.

"Thank you, sensei." Minato reached into his kunai pouch and pulled out three kunai, each with three prongs. With a quick flick of his wrist, he tossed one to the far side of the road. The clink of metal against rock alerted the traveling wagon train. The travelers glanced back and forth from rocks to rocks.

"Great, dandelion head, you just gave away our position." Kushina turned to him, and found him gone. She looked back and forth, but found him nowhere. As she glanced across the road, she saw him crouching beside the kunai he had just thrown. "Oh, that's what you're doing. Show-off."

"It's something he's been working on for a while. Among other techniques. He's been studying summoning jutsu and applying it to human teleportation He can summon himself." Jiraiya explained.

Minato took out as many of his summoning kunai as he had. One by one, he threw them into the covered wagons. The travelers frantically moved from wagon to wagon, checking the insides. Voices rose from the travelers as they began to watch the rocks. Minato activated the seals on his kunai and teleported into the wagons one after the other. In each, he placed a small explosive. As he reached the final wagon and was setting the last bomb, his eye caught something hidden under the piles of clothes and other materials. He pulled it out and looked over it. A family picture, framed proudly displaying the faces of a husband, wife, and their newborn daughter.

He placed the picture back and teleported back to his team mates. "The explosives are in place." He reported.

Jiraiya nodded. "Well done, then we just detonate them and we-"

"Sensei, I don't think we should." Minato spoke out.

"What do you mean?" Jiraiya asked.

"I think these people are just refugees from the land of rain. I doubt any of them have any sympathies with the Rock Village." Minato explained.

"Minato, your bleeding heart will be the death of us all." Suki made a hand sign and released her chakra, activating the explosives in the wagons. Each erupted in a fiery bang, flaming draggles of wood flew from the supply wagons and clouds of smoke. The travels each lay on the ground, either dead or dying painfully.

Suki smiled with herself. Minato grabbed her by the shirt and pressed her up against a rock. "Why did you do that?! I said they were just refugees in a war! Why'd you kill them!?"

"Oh, shut up you hypocrite. You were the one who placed the bombs, so don't complain." Suki pushed him away. "Besides, refugees of the enemy are the enemy. And aren't you supposed to not show emotion in any combat situation?"

"It wasn't combat." Minato protested.

"But you can't start to show pity for the enemy. You need to be cold in battle. Don't care. That is the way of the ninja."

Minato turned away, folding his arms. "It's not my Ninja way."


	33. Wind Back the Clock: Kushina's Dilemma

WOW! It's been such a long time, hasn't it?

**Wind back the clock: Kushina's Dilemma**

Kushina sat at the bar, a glass of sake resting on the counter and a small saucer in front of her. Jiraiya had taken them out for a post-mission drink, his treat. Of coarse he just sat in the corner with a whole bunch of "company" hanging from his arms. He was already drunk off his ass.

As she took another sip from the saucer, she couldn't help but think about the mission. "That isn't my ninja way", Minato had said. What did he mean? Well, obviously, he meant that he was unwilling to kill innocents, but what was he really going for? The life of a ninja is a harsh and dangerous one. Kill or be killed, dog eat dog, nothing could change it. He couldn't start trying to have pity on the enemy. Certainly not in the middle of a war.

"Is this seat taken?" Speak of the devil. Kushina turned and saws the face of Minato. However, this time he wasn't goofy or happy. Instead he was much more serious. Almost stern.

She sighed. "Fine. Take it."

He sat himself down and motioned to the bar tender. "Another saucer and jug, please."

"Okay, I'll bite. What do you want?" She chugged another saucer of sake.

"Who said I wanted anything?" Minato asked, his jug and saucer being placed in front of him. He poured his sake.

"Why else would you be here? You want something from me, or else you wouldn't be sitting here. Do you think that because I'm drinking, you can get laid any faster?"

"No, all that's on my mind is the mission." He finished his drink and poured another.

"What about the mission?"

"I was just thinking about all those refugees. They weren't hurting anyone, or causing any problems. Why did they have to die?"

"Hey," She took another swig, "You were the one who planted the bombs."

"Yeah, but if I had known, I never would've." Minato leaned forward on his elbows. "I hate this war."

"You aren't going to let this effect your judgment are you? I know you have another mission coming up soon with your own squad. Team Minato. That one kid of yours, Kakashi, he's just been made a Jonin now, hasn't he?"

"Yeah, he's really talented. Too bad the other boy, Obito, isn't quite as good. I mean, he's an Uchiha, you'd think he'd be more talented."

Kushina tensed slightly as she heard the word "Uchiha". Despite all the years, she still didn't like the name. "Has he had any attitude problems?"

"Obito, or Kakashi? Obito's fine. Actually, I'm kinda worried since he's so timid and withheld. Kakashi is very harsh on him. He acts more like a typical Uchiha and Obito does. Oh, well. I guess there's always one oddball in a bunch. Actually, I'm not leading this mission, Kakashi's gonna try his hand at leading this time. I'm going to the front lines this time. May never see me again." He leaned in, grinning confidently.

Kushina sighed. Less than half a bottle and he was already drunk. "Still not gonna happen, blondie."

"Oh, no. You've got me all wrong." He stepped back, holding his hands up. "Though to be honest, you're the only woman I would ever want to marry."

Kushina stopped short, holding her saucer inches from her face. That was something she hadn't expected. Especially from a drunk man. He continued to ramble.

"I mean, other women have confessed to me, and I've had no problem if I wanted an easy lay, but I've never taken it." He grabbed the bottle and took a drink strait from the lip. "I have no interest in easy sex, it's something Jiraiya can't figure out. I want to get married some day, and to the woman I love. But the only woman I love is you. So I guess that means I'm destined to be single forever." As he was about to take another swig, his face slammed down on the counter with a loud thud.

Kushina stared down at the now snoring man. She set her saucer down and brushed her hand over his face. She couldn't help but smile a little. He was so simple, so kind, and so ignorant. She pulled his arm up over her shoulders and carried him out of the bar, getting strange looks from people all the way back to his apartment. Once she was inside she placed him down on his bed and left.

She watched the next morning as Team Minato; Minato, Kakashi, Obito, and Rin left for their mission.

/

Not all of them came back.

Kushina later learned Obito had died in the line of duty. Kakashi was particularly hard hit by the incident, blaming himself for it. And Rin also was upset by it all. Kushina found Minato in a drunken stupor at the bar, his face smooshed up against the counter.

"What are you doing?" She sat up next to him.

"Drowning my sorrows in alcohol." He mumbled. He propped himself up. "Do you understand how his parents reacted when I told them? Told them that their son is now buried in the ruble of a shattered mountain in enemy territory."

"Well, not much you can do." She said.

"Yes, there is." He stumbled up on his feet.

"What, try to retrieve his body? Or just stagger there like a fool?"

"I'm going to become Hokage. And when I do, I'm gonna bring a complete end to war. Not just this one, but all wars. I want to bring about a peace that can last forever."

Kushina watched him with an air of wonder. This man, such confidence. He said it as if he could actually do it. But she'd lived long enough to know that it was impossible. The whole creation of the Hidden Villages was to make peace, but all it did was make war more organized. "As if that'll ever happen."

"You doubt me. But I can make it happen. People really want peace. They want to stop all this killing. If we can just talk, we can make it happen."

"And then you'll be out of a job."

"Hey, maybe then I can finally settle down and raise that family like I've always wanted." He closed his eyes and smiled childishly.

Kushina smiled. "Well, you seem to be doing better now."

"Just a little bit. But just you wait. I will be Hokage some day. Sarutobi-sensei is going to pick a successor soon, and I'm putting my own name forward for consideration. And once I become Hokage, I will work for the sake of all the people."

Kushina couldn't help but look at him in a different light now. He wasn't the goofy silly man child he usually was. No, now he was a confident individual who wanted to save mankind from itself. She grabbed his hand and started to drag him out of the bar. "Come on, you've earned it."

/

Kushina woke up the next morning, content and upbeat. Sunlight filtered in through her bedroom window. She couldn't help but smile a little as she sat up and stretched. She still couldn't believe she had finally given in to Minato's constant pursuing, but now she was glad she had. He wasn't half bad, in fact he was more than that. He was amazing. She reached back to touch him, but only felt the empty stop on her bed. She looked at the rumpled sheets and scoffed. Guess all Minato really wanted was one night after all.

She got up and put on her bath robe. Just as she walked out to her front room, she saw Minato standing and facing the rising sun. His face and clothes were covered in dirt and torn in several places. "Oh, you're still here. But from the look of things, you haven't been here all night. Where did you run off to?"

"Orochimaru's gone." Minato said bluntly. "Last night, the Hokage lead his AMBU to Orochimaru's hidden experimentation lab and confronted him. He was doing human experiments for some ungodly reason. Orochimaru managed to kill the AMBU agents and injure the Hokage. I confronted him myself as he was trying to leave the village and we fought. He escaped, but not before I put a tracer on him. Jiraiya-sensei is following him now. The Hokage has said that, in light of my bravery in facing Orochimaru alone, I am to be named the next Hokage."

Kushina stared at the man, unsure of how to feel. "Oh, wow. I guess, you've now gotten what you wanted, right?"

Minato turned to face her. "You don't love me, do you?"

Kushina was taken back by his statement. "What?"

"You don't love me. Last night, was that just sex, or did that mean something? Oh, why am I asking? I already know."

"Oh, don't get all bent you little wuss. Okay, if you really want, I'll start going out with you, if only to get you to shut up about it, okay?"

The corners of Minato's lips turned up slightly and his eyes softened. "I'd like that."


End file.
